Chris Wilson — Direct/Proffer/Cross/Redirect (Recall)
1,454 linesJUDGE NEWMAN: You may call your next witness.
MR. WATERS: The State calls Chris Wilson.
The witness, JAMES CHRISTOPHER WILSON, was first duly sworn and testified as follows:
CHRIS WILSON: My name is James Christopher Wilson, W-i-l-s-o-n. I go by Chris.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. WATERS:
MR. WATERS: Good morning, Mr. Wilson.
CHRIS WILSON: Good morning.
MR. WATERS: If you would, tell the jury just a little bit about yourself: where you grew up, where you went to school, and what you do for a living, please.
CHRIS WILSON: Well, as I said a moment ago, my name is Chris Wilson. I grew up in Bamberg about thirty-five or forty minutes west of here; I graduated school there. Went to school up in Spartanburg College. Came back to Columbia to go to law school at USC. I finished law school in 1994, worked for a judge in Greenville for one year, and then moved back to Bamberg where I grew up, practice law. I've been practicing law ever since 1995.
MR. WATERS: Do you have a solo practice in a firm?
CHRIS WILSON: Right now it's me and one associate. I've had my own firm since 1998, and there have been varying associates that have worked with me, or at one time I had a couple of partners and one partner left, and then one partner moved and so we split up as a result of that. But, you know, I've had my own practice since '98 with different people coming and going.
MR. WATERS: And what's the name of the practice?
CHRIS WILSON: Right now it's Wilson Law Group.
MR. WATERS: Wilson Law Group?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Tell the jury what kind of legal work you do, please.
CHRIS WILSON: I do all kind of cases, but over the last ten to fifteen years I've primarily concentrated on just personal injury cases, people that are injured in wrecks or hurt at work, tractor-trailer wrecks especially, a lot of those. Just personal injury cases.
MR. WATERS: Okay. Do you know the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: I do.
MR. WATERS: Do you see him in the courtroom here today?
CHRIS WILSON: I do.
MR. WATERS: Can you point him out for the jury?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. Red head with the glasses over there between Mr. Griffin and Mr. Harpootlian.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, can the record reflect he's identified the defendant?
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
MR. WATERS: Tell me how you came to know the defendant.
CHRIS WILSON: I've known Alex since we were in high school. I think I was a year younger than him, but Bamberg and Hampton are only about 30 miles apart and so we had several mutual friends, people that I was closer to back then but got to know and be around him some then. We played some ball against each other and I think even played on the same ball team one summer. So, I knew him a little bit through high school but not much. Didn't keep in touch at all when we were in college. Started law school at the same time together and became really close friends through law school, lived together a little bit of that time. Finished law school. I moved to Greenville, he moved to Beaufort and, you know, we would keep in touch some, but we were a little bit separated. And then when I moved back to Bamberg and he ultimately moved back to Hampton we got much, much closer. Our wives had known each other through college and so they became closer friends. Our kids grew up together. You know, we just spent a lot of time together personally, and then he and I did a number of cases together. We worked professionally together.
MR. WATERS: Did y'all become close friends over the years?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Best friends?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I considered him to be one of my best, if not my best friend, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you get to know his family?
CHRIS WILSON: Very much. Not just his wife, not just Maggie, not just Paul but, you know, Buster and his parents, you know, his in-laws, his brothers and sisters, and mama and daddy, I mean, the whole family. And they knew my family, or he knew my family.
MR. WATERS: Y'all did things together socially?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. We had kids the same age. Our kids are close. We did a lot of things together, and we worked together.
MR. WATERS: Up until about June of 2021, did you talk to the defendant almost every day?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I didn't see Alex all of the time, not every day, maybe not even once a week, but we talked by phone probably pretty much every day, several times a day sometimes. Sometimes just about, you know, Gamecocks and football and baseball, and whatever. Sometimes about kids, sometimes about business, sometimes about cases we were working on. Just all kind of stuff.
MR. WATERS: Did you feel like you knew him pretty well?
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. WATERS: You mentioned y'all worked some cases together. How many cases together did you work over the years?
CHRIS WILSON: Well, my firm when I first started out by myself was smaller. I didn't have a lot of resources; I was just getting started. His firm was bigger with a lot more resources and a lot more lawyers. They handled some bigger cases that I really wasn't capable of handling together on my own, and so when it first started out, I was associating him and his firm a lot more often probably over the course of, you know, these last twenty years, probably twenty-five or thirty cases, but it slowed down. As my firm got bigger and I became more experienced and could handle a lot more things on my own, it was less and less often that I would associate his firm. But if I ever felt like it could benefit my client with either the type of case that I was handling or where the case was going to be brought to have his firm involved, I would call Alex.
MR. WATERS: How many times do you think you worked a case with him or shared a case with him over the years?
CHRIS WILSON: Probably thirty, maybe more.
MR. WATERS: And when did that start, do you think?
CHRIS WILSON: I opened my own -- I didn't do it any until I opened my own office in '98, and I don't remember exactly when he moved back to Hampton from Beaufort, but it was probably starting in the early 2000's or somewhere thereabouts.
MR. WATERS: And were all of these plaintiff's cases where y'all are representing a plaintiff who had had some alleged injuries or something like that or some sort of -- suffered some sort of harm?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I mean, there may have been, you know, one or two here or there that was something different than a personal injury case, but almost everything was personal injury cases.
MR. WATERS: And were all of these cases worked on a contingency?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And can you explain to the jury what a contingency is, how a lawyer gets paid with a contingency type case?
CHRIS WILSON: Sure. A contingency fee is basically, basically the attorney and the client enter into an agreement on the front end of the case when the client retains the attorney. There are no attorneys fees up front, there's no prepayment, there's no hourly billing arrangement. Basically the attorney has an interest in the case so that when the case resolved -- resolves, the attorney receives as a fee a portion of the recovery. Generally it's a third, sometimes 40 percent depending on whether suit has to be filed or what type of case it is. But basically the lawyer is taking all of the risks and pursuing the case. If it doesn't work out well, the lawyer doesn't get paid for their time, and generally the lawyer fronts all of the costs in pursuing the case for court fees, depositions, experts, all that type stuff. And so at the end if there's a recovery, the attorney is repaid their fee contingent on a successful outcome and repaid whatever costs that are advanced in the case.
MR. WATERS: Those cost and expenses, the costs of litigating a case, hiring an expert, travel, taking depositions --
CHRIS WILSON: It gets expensive.
MR. WATERS: -- court costs, things like that?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes. It gets very expensive.
MR. WATERS: Do those come out of lawyer's 33 percent or 40 percent of the recovery, or are those recovered separately from the lawyer's fees?
CHRIS WILSON: Separately and in addition to the fee.
MR. WATERS: Okay. In the cases that you have worked with Alex over the years, was he with PMPED during those cases?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I don't believe I associated him on any cases when he was in Beaufort. It was not until he returned to Hampton.
MR. WATERS: If you are in your firm and Alex is in his firm and y'all are sharing your case and ultimately you're successful -- there's a settlement, there's a trial verdict -- and you get a recovery, how do you go about splitting that fee?
CHRIS WILSON: All of that is agreed to up on the front at the beginning of the case. So, for instance, a client comes in and hires me for whatever reason, whatever type case, if I look at it and decide that I could use some help either because there's a lawyer that knows that area of law better than I do, or maybe they're more local to the case, or maybe I just need some extra manpower, whatever it is, when I associate that lawyer and his firm, we make an agreement at the beginning as to what the fee split will be. And the client approves that and signs off on it. It's generally 50/50 on almost all -- I think on every case I ever worked with this firm, it was a 50/50 split on the fees.
MR. WATERS: And those cases that you worked with Alex over the years up until one at the end, did your office typically handle the disbursement of the fees when the settlement money came in?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I mean, I've gone back through all my files, and with the exception of one or two cases that I think were a little bit different than normal -- his firm had part of the family who had lost a loved one and I had part of the family that had lost a loved one, and instead of them having a dispute about who was going to control and handle the case, we decided to work together, and so the firms worked together. And everything may have gone through them on those cases. But on cases that I associated his firm on that I went to them to bring them into the case, I would generally handle the disbursements, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right, and when we say handle the disbursements, does that mean your office would handle actually cutting the checks to the client as well as to his firm for their share of the large fees, as well as their share of any expenses to be reimbursed?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. When the money would come in, whether it was by a settlement or a verdict that had been paid, the money would come to my office and it would have to sit in my account for the appropriate amount of time. And then when checks were ready to be written, I would write the checks to his firm for their fees and for their costs, to my firm for my fees and my costs, to any medical bills, or liens, or anything that had to be paid, and to the client for their money.
MR. WATERS: And you would write the checks for his share of the fees to the firm. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, to PMPED, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Detrick, and Elzroth.
MR. WATERS: And when you would write those checks to his firm, would there be one check or two? Would you put the fees and his share of reimbursed costs in one check together, or would you write two separate checks?
CHRIS WILSON: Starting out I think we would include not just for his firm but for my firm. Fees and costs would be in the same check. And then, you know, more than ten years ago or so, and maybe even longer than that, we started doing it in two separate checks just to keep the accounting of it easier, to keep up with what part of the payment was fees and what part of the payment was costs. So, you know, over the last fifteen years it's been two checks.
MR. WATERS: Do you have a staff member who helps you who's kind your main staff member that might handle some of these disbursements?
CHRIS WILSON: I have several different staff people that help me handle cases and disbursements. I have a bookkeeper that keeps up with the checking accounts and writes all the checks that I instruct her to write, and then I'm the only person with signatory authority. And I have a staff member that helps me work cases and actually helps me put together disbursement sheets, and check medical lien balances, and who's owed what money and those type things.
MR. WATERS: And who is that person you're referring to?
CHRIS WILSON: Vickie is the person that helps me do all of that.
MR. WATERS: Did you ever work a case with the defendant involving Mack Trucks?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I contacted Alex and his firm to get involved and work with me and another lawyer on a case involving Mack Trucks.
MR. WATERS: Tell the jury just a little bit about the case. Without getting into too much detail, what kind of case was it?
CHRIS WILSON: Sure. So, a lawyer contacted me about a wreck that a client of his had been involved in. A drive shaft out of a Mack Truck had fallen into the interstate as the vehicles were traveling down the road. This gentleman's vehicle, along with a bunch of other vehicles, hit this draft shaft and he was injured, and so this lawyer -- it was a trucking case when he first contacted me and looked at it and that's a lot of what I do. So, he called me for some help with that.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and so you got involved in this particular case?
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. WATERS: As you looked at the particular case, did you decide to involve the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: I did. Very quickly after looking at it, he -- this other lawyer and I both realized that this case was probably a products liability case, that the drive shaft shouldn't have just fallen out of the truck for no reason like that, and that there might be something to do with a defect in the truck. And we found some information about a recall, or a potential recall, and I knew that's what Alex and his firm specialized in, those type cases. So, I called him and asked him to get involved. We were pushing some deadlines to bring in all of the parties that we needed to, so it was important to get somebody involved in a facet that knew what they were doing.
MR. WATERS: And he agreed to get in on this particular case?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: So, you've got three attorneys in there who are going to split the fee. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Tell the jury, again without getting too much into the weeds, tell the jury a little bit how the litigation went. Did y'all ultimately try the case, and kind of set up how y'all ultimately got to that point.
CHRIS WILSON: Sure. So, we actually brought two cases. We brought one case for the wife of the gentleman that was injured in the wreck for what are called loss of consortium claims. That generally is just the loss of a spouse, their loss of the services of their other spouse. Maybe that spouse can't do all the things around the home they used to do, or they can't be quite the husband or the wife that they were before. So, we brought a claim for the wife for loss of consortium, and we brought a separate case for the husband for his personal injuries. Not to get too technical, but the wife's case, the -- Mack Trucks didn't answer the papers like they were supposed and so they went into default on that case, and that put them in a really bad spot. On the husband's case, they answered the papers and initially contested the case, but after getting Alex and his firm involved in the case, we started doing discovery, which means we were asking for a bunch of documentation and things. And I'm not sure that they just didn't want us looking any further, and so they reached out to us and we had communications with them about ways to try to pursue the case outside of the traditional going through all of that and going to a jury trial. Covid had hit and so things were slowed up in the court, and ultimately we reached an agreement to try both of those cases together in front of a judge without a jury. Both parties waived any rights to appeal. Mack Trucks admitted liability, and we agreed to waive punitive damages. I think that's the structure we tried it under.
MR. WATERS: Let me ask you two quick questions about that. You said that Covid had hit and, like the rest of the world, that had slowed up everything in court, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Very much.
MR. WATERS: And, you know, some things were moving but because things were slowed up in court, that might slow up the ability to get verdicts and settlements and that sort of thing to some extent. Covid had an affect on everybody. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right, and then you mentioned in this particular case, y'all ultimately agreed for both parties to waive the right to appeal. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And did that have the effect of meaning that whatever verdict was issued, it wouldn't be tied up in the courts for a long time and the money would go ahead and be paid?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did y'all eventually try that case in front of a judge instead of a jury?
CHRIS WILSON: We did, in January of 2021, first couple of weeks.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and did the defendant try that case with you?
CHRIS WILSON: He did.
MR. WATERS: And did y'all ultimately get a verdict?
CHRIS WILSON: We did. We got verdicts in both cases.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and do you remember how much those verdicts were?
CHRIS WILSON: Combined they were $5.5 million. I believe it was $4 million on the husband's case. He had passed away, I believe, within about four, five, or six months of us going to trial, so I think it was $4 million on behalf of his estate for his injuries and what that had cost for him. And then I believe it was 1.5 million on the wife's loss of consortium.
MR. WATERS: Who did the closing argument in that case --
CHRIS WILSON: Alex did.
MR. WATERS: -- for y'all's side?
CHRIS WILSON: Alex did.
MR. WATERS: The defendant did?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did he get emotional in closing?
CHRIS WILSON: He did.
MR. WATERS: Had he spent much time with the husband in that case?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't think Alex had spent a lot of time with the gentleman. He had been kind of sick towards the end, and I don't know that Alex had spent a lot of time with him. He had spent a lot of time with the wife, especially throughout that week in trial. I mean, it was an emotional case. They had serious loss.
MR. WATERS: Closing argument, that's when the lawyer gets up and sort of summarizes the case to the judge and the jury, depending on what kind of case it is?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. Honestly you do more than summarize. You argue.
MR. WATERS: You argue?
CHRIS WILSON: Yeah. You put your heart into it. You tell the judge and the jury why it is you think -- why it is you hope and think they do what you're asking them to do.
MR. WATERS: You said the verdict was how much in total?
CHRIS WILSON: 5.5 million combined.
MR. WATERS: And what does that mean the fees were going to be for the three lawyers involved in this case?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember the exact split for everybody. I know that my fee was going to be, like, $791,000, and the fee payable to Alex's firm was going to be $792,000.
MR. WATERS: And do you recall --
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember the third attorney right off the top of my head.
MR. WATERS: Do you remember when you received that $5.5 million into your trust account?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. Part of it came in by wire but it was a smaller part, and I want to say that was about -- we tried it in the first part of January. The Judge didn't issue a rule right on the spot; it took a couple weeks for him to issue his ruling, which is normal. And then within a couple of weeks of that, after some back and forth with Mack Truck's attorney about whether they were going to file any kind of posttrial motions, or they could have tried to file an appeal and see where it went -- even though we had an agreement up front, we were worried they might get around that. But, anyway, after a couple of weeks of back and forth, a wire was sent for part of the money around probably the middle of February, and then shortly after that a check arrived for the rest of the money.
MR. WATERS: And again, do you remember when that was?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember exactly. I want to say the last few days of -- no, it was probably the last few days of February, somewhere around in there.
MR. WATERS: What year?
CHRIS WILSON: 2021.
MR. WATERS: Hold on for me one second.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, for the record I just want to object to this line of questioning under 404, 403. And to this exhibit, I do not have any additional objections other than those that were previously made.
JUDGE NEWMAN: I don't know what the exhibit is.
MR. GRIFFIN: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, this is just a text but it's related to the in-camera matters that have been addressed.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted over objection.
(TEXT MESSAGE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 450 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right, I'm going to show you what has been marked as and admitted into evidence as State's 450 and see if you recognize that document, please.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. This looks like a snapshot of a text screen that I would have provided that is just communication between me and Alex.
MR. WATERS: All right, and in the middle of that particular text, that particular page there's some texts, and do you see the date on that?
CHRIS WILSON: March the 10th. This would be 2021.
MR. WATERS: All right, and that's a text from the defendant. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. It looks like we had been talking about getting together to play golf, and then he texted me wanting -- you want me to read it?
MR. WATERS: Yeah. Go ahead and read that to the jury, what your text conversation right there is.
CHRIS WILSON: March 10th: I need to get check today. If it's just too much for you, I will deal with it.
MR. WATERS: All right, and what's your response?
CHRIS WILSON: I am working on it.
MR. WATERS: Okay. So, that's March 10th of 2021. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: May I have the ELMO, please?
MR. WATERS: All right. Well, let's talk about that text a little bit. So, does that text help you kind of get an idea of roughly when the disbursement checks came in on the Mack Truck case?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. So, by our rules of the Supreme Court, any check that's of a certain size has to be in your trust account for at least ten days before you can disburse. And these were -- this was a sizable check, so I was going to wait more than ten days just to make sure there weren't any problems. So, if that's March the 10th, you know, like I said, those checks -- the final amount of that money would have come in some time, you know, towards the end of February because I think I waited twelve to fifteen days as I recall.
MR. WATERS: As you said, it's a sizable amount of money. This was a pretty big recovery, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: I imagine you contacted the other attorney and you contacted the defendant to say, hey, got the money in.
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. WATERS: When you contacted the defendant about that, what, if anything, did he say?
CHRIS WILSON: You know, great news, good. I told him that I was going to sit on it a little bit longer than normal to disburse just because -- if it had all come in a wire, I could have disbursed immediately because those are considered received funds, but with it being a check, I wanted to wait. And so I let both of them know that I had received the money and that I wasn't going to do it on the tenth day, but that I would do it shortly thereafter.
MR. WATERS: Did the defendant ask you to do anything when it came time to disbursing his firm's share of the funds?
CHRIS WILSON: He did, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Tell me about that conversation.
CHRIS WILSON: When it came time to disburse the checks and I was calling him and the other lawyer to let them know that I would have the checks ready, I guess somewhere around March the 10th Alex told me that he was going to put the monies into an annuity, that he was going to put his fees in an annuity. He called it a structure, but in essence he explained he was going to put those monies into an annuity and that the checks needed to be made payable directly to him instead of his firm so that he could do that.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and did he explain to you why he was going to do that?
CHRIS WILSON: He had just indicated that he was putting money away. He indicated that he was concerned about the boat case and that he was going to put some monies in an annuity or into a structure.
MR. WATERS: When you say he was concerned about the boat case, what exactly -- what was he concerned about? What did he tell you he was concerned about?
CHRIS WILSON: He was concerned about his exposure in the boat case.
MR. WATERS: In a civil lawsuit?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: You were aware that the defendant had been sued civilly in the both accident case?
CHRIS WILSON: I didn't know if he had been sued himself, but I knew there was a lawsuit going on involving -- and I believe I did know that he was himself sued at that time, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: So, this was different than how you normally did things, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Very much.
MR. WATERS: Did he have any further explanation to you as to why this would be okay, why this was all right to do?
CHRIS WILSON: He told me that he had already cleared it with the partners in his firm. I mean, he was a partner himself with the authority to do things for the firm, but he told me he had already cleared it with his partners in the firm and that he was going to -- that they were going put the monies on the books, and then they would be accounted for at the end of the year whenever they did their year end settle up, that he would already be accounted for as having been paid these monies already.
MR. WATERS: Looking back at this exhibit that's now up on the screen, on March 10th at 4:50 he says: I need to get the check today.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did he tell you any more about why he needed to get the check today?
CHRIS WILSON: I spoke to him on the phone that day, and he just asked me if the checks were going to be ready that day. As I recall, I was on the road. I wasn't sure I was going to make it back to the office or not. My bookkeeper was getting the checks ready, and I spoke to him on the phone and told him that if I got back in time to sign the checks, I would have them ready that day. He told me he would like to get them that day, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: He told you that he'd already cleared this with the partners. They were okay with him getting his money right now instead of having to wait until the end of the year.
CHRIS WILSON: He told me that the partners were aware that the monies were being paid to him, that he was going to put them into annuities, and that they would be accounted for on the books of the firm as already having been credited as paid towards him.
MR. WATERS: Did you believe the defendant when he told you these things?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I didn't have any reason not to.
MR. WATERS: Your best friend?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you trust him?
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. WATERS: Didn't set off any red flags to you at this point?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir. I mean, I had known him for thirty- plus years and didn't have any reason not to trust him.
MR. WATERS: Did you ultimately initially write a couple of fee checks to the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: I did, yes, sir. I think I wrote one check in the gentleman's case and one check in the lady's case, and then the gentleman's check was rewritten into two checks. When I say these checks, I'm talking about fees that were paid.
MR. WATERS: Okay. I'm going to show you what's previously been mark as State's Exhibit 345. You said the total fees that were going to go to Alex in this case were how much?
CHRIS WILSON: $792,000.
MR. WATERS: And he asked you to write the checks out to who?
CHRIS WILSON: To him.
MR. WATERS: Him directly?
CHRIS WILSON: Him, Richard A. Murdaugh.
MR. WATERS: Instead of what?
CHRIS WILSON: Instead of PMPED or the law firm.
MR. WATERS: Which would be the normal practice?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what's been marked as 345 and see if you recognize this document, State's 345.
CHRIS WILSON: I do.
MR. WATERS: All right. What is that?
CHRIS WILSON: So, this is a check that was initially written to Richard Alexander Murdaugh, Esquire, for $600,000 on March 10, 2021. This says fees on the bottom. This would be the fees on the gentleman's case for payable to his firm, which Alex told me to write to him. This check was voided and rewritten into two separate checks. It's marked void.
MR. WATERS: All right, Your Honor, at this time I would move to admit State's 345 into evidence.
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, we do not have any additional objections to that document.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(COPY OF CHECK MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 345 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: And this check is made out for how much?
CHRIS WILSON: $600,000.
MR. WATERS: All right, and, again, there were two cases so there were going to be two separate checks. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. This was just the fees on the gentleman's case.
MR. WATERS: And that was going to be how much total?
CHRIS WILSON: Total was 792.
MR. WATERS: But this one is?
CHRIS WILSON: 600.
MR. WATERS: And the one for the other one?
CHRIS WILSON: 192.
MR. WATERS: 192. Okay. All right, and so you initially write this check. Did you deliver this to the defendant, or what happened?
CHRIS WILSON: I didn't deliver any of the checks. I believe he had somebody pick them up that day from his office, a runner or something like that. But, no, sir, this check was voided out and we rewrote two separate checks made payable to Richard Alexander Murdaugh, Esquire.
MR. WATERS: Why did you do that? Why did you void this one for 600 and write two separate checks?
CHRIS WILSON: When I called Alex and told him that I -- or when we were talking and I told him I thought the checks would be ready, he instructed me that he was doing three separate annuities and so it would need to be in three checks, and that this check would need to be made out into two different checks that totaled $600,000.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and his reason is he was doing a bunch of different annuities, huh?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. It wasn't all going into the same annuity, or the same place.
MR. WATERS: All right. So, you recut into two checks. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what has been marked as State's 346 and see if you recognize that set of documents, please.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, I do.
MR. WATERS: All right. Just flip through it real quick.
CHRIS WILSON: You want me to tell you what they are?
MR. WATERS: Well, just flip through it first if you would, please.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, I recognize all of this.
MR. WATERS: And tell the jury what those are, please.
CHRIS WILSON: So, the top document is the $192,000 check dated March 10, 2021, made payable to Richard Alexander Murdaugh, Esquire, and on the bottom it says fees. That would have been the fees on the lady's loss of consortium case.
MR. WATERS: Okay.
CHRIS WILSON: The back of it -- the rest of it is just the back of the check. It looks like it's endorsed, Bank of America deposit only, a signature that looks like Alex but it's kind of scribbled and says Bank of America.
MR. WATERS: Okay.
CHRIS WILSON: The next page is a check for $225,000 dated March 10, 2021, payable to Richard Alexander Murdaugh, Esquire, and on the box it says fees. This would be part of the rewrite of that $600,000 check. Same type of endorsement paperwork on the back. And then the third check is a check dated March 10, 2021, for $375,000 made payable to Richard Alexander Murdaugh, Esquire, and on the bottom it says fees. And that would be the second part of rewrite of that $600,000 check for the fees in the gentleman's case.
MR. WATERS: All right.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time I would move to admit State's 346 into evidence.
MR. GRIFFIN: We don't have any additional objections, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: They're admitted.
(COPY OF CHECKS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 346 WERE RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right. I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 347 and see if you recognize those two documents, please.
CHRIS WILSON: I do.
MR. WATERS: All right. Tell me what those are.
CHRIS WILSON: So, these are two checks from my firm made payable to Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Elzroth, and Detrick. The for the memo part doesn't -- is redacted, but I know what these are. So, these were cost reimbursement checks in both of these cases, one check for the gentleman's case and one check for the wife's case. They're dated May 13th of 2021, made payable to the law firm. One of them is for $14,619.13, and one of them is for the same amount except for 14 cents.
MR. WATERS: All right. Tell me the date on those expense checks, please.
CHRIS WILSON: May 13th of 2021.
MR. WATERS: And go back, if you would, and let's again remind the jury what the date of fee checks are particularly after they were recut at the defendant's request.
CHRIS WILSON: March 10th of 2021.
MR. WATERS: All right. Let me put these up on the screen real quick.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, I would move in State's 347, please.
MR. GRIFFIN: No additional objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. They're admitted.
(COPY OF CHECKS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 347 WERE RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right. We are at State's 346, and this is the check for 192,000. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And date is March 10th. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. That is the day that all three lawyers' checks were cut to be paid.
MR. WATERS: Same date of that text that the jury has seen, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: The next page. This is the check for how much?
CHRIS WILSON: $225,000.
MR. WATERS: And that's part of the 600K?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Same date?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, March the 10th.
MR. WATERS: And that is your signature on there?
CHRIS WILSON: It is.
MR. WATERS: Going back to the first one, you said that looks like whose handwriting?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Whose?
CHRIS WILSON: Alex's.
MR. WATERS: Right there on the second check on the back, that looks like whose handwriting to you?
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, the top left of it looks like Alex's signature.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and then finally this last check, that's the 375. That's part of 600,000?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: That's your signature right there on the check?
CHRIS WILSON: It is.
MR. WATERS: And the same date?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, March 10th.
MR. WATERS: And do you recognize that signature at all?
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, it looks like Alex's, but, I'm not --
MR. WATERS: The best that you can tell.
CHRIS WILSON: The best I can see, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right. What -- those particular checks, what did you -- once those were cut, the defendant has been texting you about it, what did you do once you recut them?
CHRIS WILSON: I think, as I said a little earlier, at some point in time we were having a phone conversation and I told him that I was on the road, that if I got back and was able to sign them I would let him know. And I ultimately did make it back to the office, I believe, that day. Was able to get the checks signed, and either called him and said they were ready and he said I'll send somebody up to get them, or maybe I called him as I was going back to the office but before I actually signed them and said, hey, I will be back to sign them and they'll be ready. And he said, well, I'm going to send somebody up to get them. And so they would have come up -- I think he had a runner come up that day that would have picked up a package that had those checks. I mean, I don't remember exactly for sure, but generally it's going to be those checks, a cover letter, and a package that has a partial disbursement sheet. Our client had signed off on allowing the fees to go ahead and be paid then while we were waiting on some liens to resolve themselves, some costs to come in and some things like that. So, our client had signed off on a partial settlement statement, and I would have provided that.
MR. WATERS: The voided check you saw before and these checks all have the same date. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, they do.
MR. WATERS: And do you recall anything about that? Did you call him up and say, hey, great news. I got it taken care of, and he said, wait, wait, wait. How did that go down?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember. I mean, I don't remember how many different conversations we had that day; whether it was over, you know, one conversation or two conversations, I don't remember. But at some point he instructed me that the $600,000 check needed to be made into separate checks.
MR. WATERS: Did he send somebody to pick them up?
CHRIS WILSON: I think -- I didn't mean to cut you off. We talked a lot every day, and so we probably had multiple conversations that day, but at some point he instructed me to do that.
MR. WATERS: He was one of your best friends?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, very much. Not just my best friend, Mr. Waters. I mean, our families were close. I mean, our kids, our wives, I mean, we were close.
MR. WATERS: You had a friendship with Maggie, too?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, very much.
MR. WATERS: A friendship with Paul, too?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: You had a friendship with Buster, too?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. Haven't been able to have that since. Not like it was, but yes, sir. I hope to one day, but yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Why didn't you disburse the fee checks the same day? Do you recall?
CHRIS WILSON: The fee checks were disbursed --
MR. WATERS: I mean, I'm sorry, the expense checks, the cost checks.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. We were still waiting on some costs to come in. We had several experts in that case, and it's not abnormal to have costs that come in after a settlement or after a verdict that you reached. Sometimes you're taking depositions up to the last minute, sometimes you have experts that are working and they're going to send their bill for their trial time, and so a lot of times those costs will come in. I think our client had authorized us to hold some money back in escrow for expected costs, and so we had a lot of bills that were coming in even into late April.
MR. WATERS: Okay. You mentioned that the defendant had said something about his exposure in the boat accident lawsuit as a reason for structuring these fees.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did he say any more about that?
CHRIS WILSON: Not in that conversation when he asked me to write the checks directly to him. We had had some other conversations, and I don't remember if they were before this or after this. Honestly I think they were after, but I don't remember for sure where he had just said that there was, you know, some fights going on between insurance companies.
MR. WATERS: When you -- the defendant asked you to do this unusual step and write the fees direct to him and you said you trusted him, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: What was your general perception of his law practice, of his wealth, of his financial security knowing him as well as you did? What was your perception of that?
CHRIS WILSON: Big firm, big reputation. Alex had a big reputation. I thought he made a whole lot more money than I did. Everything I knew from the way his partners treated him, the type of cases I saw him working on with them, the type of cases I knew he worked on with me that he was, you know, one of the biggest dogs in that firm, one of the biggest producers they had. You know, seemed to own a lot of things, do a lot of things, spend money. Didn't ever seem to have problems. And I knew I was associating him and his firm on very good cases throughout years and I knew other lawyers that were. It just seemed like they were doing very well and that he, he specifically was doing very well.
MR. WATERS: And is that perception that you had of him one of the reasons why you trusted him, that there was no shenanigans going on?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't know that that's the main reason. I trusted him because I knew him and had dealt with him personally and professionally for a long time, but I had no idea -- if he was having money problems, I mean, I would have never suspected that his asking me to write checks to him had anything to do with money problems on his behalf. Nothing gave that appearance. So, I mean, that could have factored into the back -- but mostly I just knew the guy and I trusted him. And he wasn't asking me to do anything that raised any flags with me. He told me that he cleared it with his firm and his partners; I didn't have any reason to doubt that.
MR. WATERS: I'm going to put State's 347 up on the screen, and what are these again?
CHRIS WILSON: That's a cost reimbursement check in one of those cases. I can't tell you which one it is.
MR. WATERS: All right. Then if we go two pages back, this is the other check?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, in the other case, cost reimbursement.
MR. WATERS: All right, and those are the same amount?
CHRIS WILSON: One penny difference, I think. Alex sent me the cost total and I just split them evenly between the two cases.
MR. WATERS: And what's the date on that check, those checks?
CHRIS WILSON: May 13th of 2021, which I believe would be about -- would be the time obviously we wrote the checks, and they would have been mailed to his office shortly thereafter.
MR. WATERS: And you said that there was a reason why these came a couple months later, that y'all were waiting for some information?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, waiting on costs to finalize up. Instead of writing multiple checks as costs came in, we just kind of wait sometimes until the final bill is received.
MR. WATERS: Is that your signature on these checks?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And those would have been mailed to Alex's law firm, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: That is the general practice, yes, sir, is we mailed them to his firm, and I don't know why these would have been done any differently.
MR. WATERS: In May of 2021, did your office -- after these checks were mailed, did your office receive any communication from the defendant's law firm?
CHRIS WILSON: My paralegal, Vickie, received an email from Alex's paralegal, Annette.
MR. WATERS: And tell me about that. What was the communication that from Annette?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, from Annette Griswold, Alex's paralegal.
MR. WATERS: Your paralegal, Vickie, received a communication from Annette Griswold, the defendant's paralegal?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. Vickie got an email from Annette that said, hey, we got the -- something to the effect of hey, we received the cost checks, either why no fee checks, or where are the fee checks.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and did Vickie respond to that?
CHRIS WILSON: She did.
MR. WATERS: And what did she respond?
CHRIS WILSON: She responded to Annette that the reason the fee checks were included is because they had already been paid to Alex, that he had already received the fee checks.
MR. WATERS: And was that on or about May 19th of 2021?
CHRIS WILSON: I would have to look at the email, but I believe so, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did Vickie raise any issue with you at this point? Did you know anything about it at this point?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir. I was preparing -- I was in trial the following week in Hampton actually all week long, and I was preparing for that when Vickie sent that email back. She didn't notify me about that actually until all of this blew up, and I turned all of that over to SLED after we found it after all this blew up in September.
MR. WATERS: Moving into late May of 2021, did this matter that Annette was raising with your firm come to your attention?
CHRIS WILSON: It did. It wasn't late May. it was the first part of June.
MR. WATERS: And I'm going to show you what's been marked as Exhibit 348 and let you take a look at that real quick before we move on.
CHRIS WILSON: Sure.
MR. WATERS: See if you recognize that.
CHRIS WILSON: I do.
MR. WATERS: Tell me what that is.
CHRIS WILSON: So, this is the -- this is an email string that begins on May the 27th from Jeanie Seckinger, which is the bookkeeper or accountant in Alex's law firm, and it's an email from Jeanie to Annette Griswold, Alex's paralegal, on May the 27th where she's telling Annette that she got the expense checks and it didn't match their records, that Alex thought he had more outstanding costs but can't say what and was asking Annette to reach out to my office, to Vickie, to get some more information.
MR. WATERS: Okay.
CHRIS WILSON: And then it looks like Annette forwarded that email to Vickie on May 27th. Vickie was on vacation and did not come back in until the following week. It looks like she emailed her again on June 2nd. Vickie might have come in, like, on June the 1st or -- I think on May 31th was Memorial Day, a Monday, and so June the 1st would have been when Vickie came back in. So, Annette emailed her again on June the 2nd and asked for some information, and then Vickie emailed her back and said since this involves documents she didn't deal with, which was bookkeeping stuff that she didn't deal with, she would forward it to me.
MR. WATERS: All right, and so that happened on what day?
CHRIS WILSON: June the 2nd.
MR. WATERS: Of what year?
CHRIS WILSON: 2021.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time I would offer State's 348 into evidence.
MR. GRIFFIN: No additional objection, Judge.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Admitted.
(EMAILS MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 348 WERE RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right, and so this is -- going to the bottom, this is the email from Jeannie to Annette. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And then that gets sent from Annette to Vickie on May 27th, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And then she gets back from vacation and then she responds on June 2nd of 2021, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And what does she say?
CHRIS WILSON: She's going to forward that to me, and she did. She cc'd me up in the email stream.
MR. WATERS: All right, and did you have a conversation with Vickie at that time about this issue?
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. WATERS: And what did you tell Vickie, or what was y'all's conversation?
CHRIS WILSON: She said I have gotten this email from them asking about the costs in this case. What do you want me to do? And I said tell them that you'll forward it to me and I'll deal with it.
MR. WATERS: Around this time, had you had any conversation from any other partners in PMPED, the defendant's law firm?
CHRIS WILSON: As best I recall, Mr. Waters, I was in Hampton the entire week before and I was working out of their office. I was trying a case down there, like, the week of May the 24th, and I was working out of Alex's firm's office. Lee Cope approached me and said hey, I need to talk with you about this Mack Truck case. Has all the money been disbursed? And I said Lee, it hadn't all been disbursed. We've got some medical liens we're waiting on to deal with. We've got some costs that we're waiting on to come in and it all hasn't been disbursed, but I don't know off the top of my head. I would have to check on it. And I was stuck in -- I mean, I was stuck in trial through Friday -- through Thursday of that week.
MR. WATERS: Did you reach out to the defendant after Lee had that conversation with you?
CHRIS WILSON: I reached out to him after I got this email.
MR. WATERS: All right, and tell me what your conversation was with him when you reached out to him, having received this email from Vickie asking about these fees.
CHRIS WILSON: I called Alex. I said Alex, I got this email from your firm. They're asking about issues with costs, that you think you've got more costs that are owed to you. I put down on the settlement checks and wrote checks for the amount of costs that you gave me, but if there are more costs outstanding, you know, just figure out what they are because we've been holding some money back. I think at that point we were waiting on a medical lien to resolve, and I don't think the client will have a problem paying the courts out of what we were holding back.
MR. WATERS: Did you have any discussion about the disbursement of the fees at that point?
CHRIS WILSON: I did. I said --
MR. WATERS: Tell me about that.
CHRIS WILSON: I said Alex, this is the case that you asked me to write the fee checks directly to you. Is everything all right? He said yeah. Everything is fine. I just need to make sure my partners know that this is the same case that you wrote the checks to me and that it's already on the books.
MR. WATERS: Did you believe him?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: After you had that conversation with the defendant, did you do anything else, or did you think it was handled because you had spoken to your best friend, Alex Murdaugh?
CHRIS WILSON: He told me it was taken care of; he told me he had talked with his partners about it. I didn't think there was any other problem. I didn't do anything else.
MR. WATERS: A couple of weeks later, did you have another conversation with anyone about this same issue?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. This would have been after June the 7th, yes, sir. And it might have been more than a couple of weeks because I didn't ask him anything after Paul and Maggie. I didn't want to. I asked him if everything was all right, and he said it was fine.
MR. WATERS: When you got the email forwarded to you from Vickie on June the 2nd, did you call Alex that day?
CHRIS WILSON: I think it was -- I didn't mean to cut you off -- I think it was that day.
MR. WATERS: Thereabouts somewhere?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Do you remember June 7, 2021?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Was that a Monday?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Gamecocks had played some baseball that weekend and you had seen the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I had seen him and Maggie and Buster. My wife and I and our children had been with him and Maggie and Buster the weekend before Saturday, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: On Monday, June the 7th of 2021, what was your day like just during the day?
CHRIS WILSON: I went to work. I was in the office most of the day. I think I had something scheduled that had canceled out, and I ate lunch with a friend. I live in Columbia even though I practice in Bamberg. Kind of later in the day I ran by the pharmacy, picked something up, and then headed to Columbia, stopped and picked something up at the store on the way home.
MR. WATERS: Went home?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Normal evening?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Do you remember what you were doing that evening?
CHRIS WILSON: Just hanging out with my wife and -- I mean, I don't remember how many of our kids were home, but I think just our youngest, just watching TV.
MR. WATERS: Watching TV?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I mean, I was kind of late getting home, so it wasn't a whole lot of the evening left.
MR. WATERS: Hold on for me one second.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: That evening did the defendant call you?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, he did.
MR. WATERS: About what time did he call you?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember exactly. I mean, I turned my phone records over, but I think it was around 9:20 or -- 9:15 or 9:20.
MR. WATERS: Before we talk about that, I'm going to show you State's 451. Do you recognize that?
CHRIS WILSON: I do, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: What is that?
CHRIS WILSON: This is my phone log that I turned over to SLED.
MR. WATERS: Does that reflect calls from Alex Murdaugh on the night of June 7, 2021?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Well, tell me who --
CHRIS WILSON: To and from, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Well, tell me what you were doing when you first received a call from Alex Murdaugh that night.
CHRIS WILSON: I remember my wife and I were sitting on the back porch. We have a TV on the back porch. We were sitting back there on the couch talking, watching The Bachelor. I can't believe I was watching that. The phone rang. It was Alex. I had actually stepped off the porch, and the pool pump is on the side of the porch and I was trying mess with something with the pool pump. Sounded like it was running funky, and so the phone rang and it was Alex and I answered the phone.
MR. WATERS: What did he say?
CHRIS WILSON: He said hey. Hey, Bo is normally how he would greet you. Hey, Bo, and I don't remember if he said what are you doing or what. I pretty quickly told him hey, I've got my hands in the middle of this pool pump messing up. Can I call you right back?
MR. WATERS: Did he sound normal to you?
CHRIS WILSON: He sounded normal, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: So you said hey, I'm busy right now. Let me call you back.
CHRIS WILSON: I did, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And what did he say?
CHRIS WILSON: He said that's fine. No problem.
MR. WATERS: And having that exhibit --
MR. WATERS: And, Your Honor, I apologize. I would move State's 451 into evidence at this time.
MR. GRIFFIN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Admitted.
(PHONE LOG MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 451 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right, and having a chance to look at your phone records there, what time was that first call?
CHRIS WILSON: It looks like it was at 9:11 p.m. incoming from his cell phone.
MR. WATERS: So you got --
CHRIS WILSON: A two-minute phone call.
MR. WATERS: A two-minute phone call.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: So, you got off the phone. What happened next?
CHRIS WILSON: I finished trying to fix the pool pump, called Alex back.
MR. WATERS: All right, and what time was that?
CHRIS WILSON: 9:20 p.m.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and tell me about that conversation. Tell the jury about that conversation.
CHRIS WILSON: Called Alex back, and I generally say hey Bo, too. And you know, hey, Bo, calling you back. He said hey, I'm about to get to my mom's house. Can we talk a little bit later? And I told him sure. There were a couple of things I needed to talk with him about, cases that we were -- well, one case that we were working on, and one case that I had going on, I wanted a little advice. You know, asked him how his mama was doing and I asked him how his daddy was doing because I knew his dad was getting a lot worse. We had talked about that over the weekend at the baseball game in Columbia, and I think we had talked on the phone on Sunday also. So, he said can I call you back or can we talk later, and I said sure.
MR. WATERS: You said his daddy was getting worse. Had he called you that day, Monday, at all to give you any updates to your recollection?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't think we talked -- I don't think we talked earlier in the day on that Monday. But we had talked on that Saturday before and on that Sunday before, and so I knew his father was getting worse, and I think I knew he was either going to or had already gone to the hospital.
MR. WATERS: So that second call, was also very brief? He said hey, I'm at my mama's?
CHRIS WILSON: Three minutes.
MR. WATERS: So, what happened after that? Are you still watching TV?
CHRIS WILSON: Still watching TV, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you talk to the defendant again?
CHRIS WILSON: I did. He, I believe, texted me some time later that evening. I think the text was something -- are you still up, still up, or something like that.
MR. WATERS: All right. Stand by for me real quick.
CHRIS WILSON: Sure.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: I'm going to show you what's been marked as State's 452 and see if you recognize that document.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. This is a snapshot of text communication between me and Alex that I snapshot and provided.
MR. WATERS: All right.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time I would move State's 452 into evidence.
MR. GRIFFIN: No objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Admitted.
(TEXT MESSAGE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 452 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: This is a screen shot of the text that you -- of your text that you provided. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right, and we see down at the bottom, is that a text? Who is that text from?
CHRIS WILSON: That's from Alex to me at 9:52 on June the 7th. It said: Call me if you up.
MR. WATERS: Did you receive that text? Were you still awake at that point?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, I was.
MR. WATERS: All right, and what did you do?
CHRIS WILSON: Picked up the phone and gave him a call.
MR. WATERS: And tell me about that conversation. Did you call him one time or two times?
CHRIS WILSON: No. I called -- the first time I called he didn't answer, which is kind of normal with Alex sometimes. Sometimes he wouldn't answer because he was either on the phone, or sometimes he was just in bad service, I think, and couldn't get a call to go through, so I'm pretty persistent. I call right back. So, I called him. I didn't get an answer, and then I called him back, and that was at nine -- according to these records 9:52 is when I tried to call and didn't get an answer, and I called back at 9:53 and said hey, Alex, I got your text. Calling you back. How is your mama? And he said, you know, she's, you know, doing about like normal, I think. I mean, she'd been doing poorly for years. And I told him I needed to talk to him. We had a case we were working on that involved a piece of equipment that had malfunctioned, and the company had preserved the equipment but they weren't going to preserve it too much longer. We needed to get it inspected, and they were kind of pushing on us about when the inspection was going to occur and I said hey, we need to talk about this and get this squared away so we don't miss the chance to inspect this equipment. And I need to talk to you about some motions or something I've got upcoming and I need a little help on. And he said hey, that's cool, but I'm about to get back home. Can we talk tomorrow? And I said sure, fine.
MR. WATERS: That was the sum total of what he had to say was he was about to get home to, to Moselle and can he talk tomorrow, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Let me put State's 451 up on the screen. Right here. Is that your writing right there?
CHRIS WILSON: That's my handwriting, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And that says Alex M, and those are the defendant's calls. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: The bottom one is him calling me and me telling him I'm on the pool pump. The next one is me calling him back and him telling me he was about to get to his mama's. And then the next one up here is me trying to call him after that text that he didn't answer. And then the top one is me calling him back after he didn't answer and talking to him for those couple of minutes.
MR. WATERS: All right, and then that one in the middle, that's just an irrelevant conversation with some other person?
CHRIS WILSON: Just a friend of mine who I told that his name is probably coming out today, so I told him that he was on my phone.
MR. WATERS: We did just scratch out his number.
CHRIS WILSON: That's right, yes, sir. I just felt like his name would probably come out today and he should know that.
MR. WATERS: Just go about your evening after that? Did you just go about your evening after that?
CHRIS WILSON: Pretty shortly after that I went on to bed. My wife stayed up, but I went on to bed shortly after that.
MR. WATERS: How did you find out?
CHRIS WILSON: I was asleep. My phone was always kind of sitting beside the bed. I could hear it buzzing, but I really wasn't paying it any attention. My wife comes in kind of just hysterical. She says you've got to wake up. You've got to wake up. And I don't remember if she was on the phone with Randy's wife or Randy himself. She's trying to tell me what's going on, and I'm looking at my phone and I've got a text from a person I know in Hampton that's texting me saying hey, give me a call. I've got to tell you something before you hear it somewhere else. It was a person that was in the county government down there that I knew that was just trying to get word to me before I heard it somewhere else. My wife, I don't even -- I don't think I responded to that person or her text immediately. My wife is telling me what's going on, and I just told her, I said I'll get some clothes. I've got to go to Moselle. We started trying to call our daughter --
MR. WATERS: About what time? I'm sorry.
CHRIS WILSON: Right at about 11:00.
MR. WATERS: Keep going.
CHRIS WILSON: Start trying to call our children, tell them what was going on. I don't even know how much my wife and I spoke about it. I mean, she knew I was leaving. I got in the car and went straight to -- grabbed some clothes and went straight to Moselle.
MR. WATERS: About how long does that take?
CHRIS WILSON: From Columbia about an hour and 40 minutes or so. I mean, I called some different people on the way that I thought needed to know. I mean, I repeatedly tried to call my daughter. She was extremely close -- she is and was extremely close to Buster and Paul and, you know, couldn't get her to answer. Called her boyfriend. Just repeatedly calling her. I think I talked to Randy on the way down but I can't say for sure I did, but I know I talked with somebody in their family on the way down just to tell them I was on the way.
MR. WATERS: About what time did you get to Moselle?
CHRIS WILSON: About 1:00 in the morning.
MR. WATERS: Other family and friends were arriving then, too?
CHRIS WILSON: Already had arrived I believe, yes, sir. I mean, when I got there I went through the main gates. I could see -- I don't know that I knew at that point that this had occurred at the kennels, but I could see there was tons of activity there as I passed by to go to the main gate, and when I turned at the main gate, I was on the road headed up to the house. You don't go very far and you can turn right to go to the kennels. I was -- almost was going to turn and go down to the kennels, and I think John Marvin and Randy were walking out and kind of waved off and said go to the house.
MR. WATERS: Is that where you went?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Was the defendant there?
CHRIS WILSON: He was, yes, sir. Yeah.
MR. WATERS: Did you talk to him?
CHRIS WILSON: I did. I walked in, hugged his neck and cried, didn't know what to say.
MR. WATERS: Hugged his neck and cried.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: There were a lot of people there coming out to support him as you would expect, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. There was a lot of the lawyers that he practices law with, several family members, you know, some friends of his that I knew. There were a lot of people already in the house, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you stay there during the early morning hours as a friend, supporting your friend?
CHRIS WILSON: I did, yes, sir, until 5:30 or so in the morning, 4:30 or 5:00, I don't know. I mean, it's all -- everybody was shocked and destroyed and, I mean, time felt like it stood still. So, I don't know exactly what time it was, but some time 4:00 or 5:00 that morning everybody decided it would be best for Alex and Buster to go get some sleep, or at least try to, and not stay there that night, and so I went back to Bamberg and slept in my office.
MR. WATERS: Did you return to Moselle the next day after getting some sleep?
CHRIS WILSON: I did, about 9:00 that next morning.
MR. WATERS: Were you there as much as you could be at Moselle or wherever you were needed over the next few days in the aftermath of all this?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I was there almost entirely the next two days.
MR. WATERS: At any point did you have any conversation with the defendant about what he did that night?
CHRIS WILSON: Not really, no, sir.
MR. WATERS: What do you mean by not really?
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, I didn't ask him -- I didn't want to know -- I didn't want to know what he found. I didn't want him to have to describe that to me. I didn't want him to have to relive it, so I didn't ask him about it.
MR. WATERS: You didn't ask him?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: It's only natural.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I mean, I was there as a friend supporting him and his family. I didn't need to know the details. I knew all I needed to know is that two people that he -- that I loved were gone.
MR. WATERS: Certainly weren't going to ask him about the stupid issue with the fees at this time either?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir, not at all. Didn't know there was an issue with the fee. I mean, I did not know there was an issue with the fee at that time, so I didn't have anything to ask him.
MR. WATERS: Over the next few weeks, did you do what you could do to be a supportive friend?
CHRIS WILSON: I did, yes, sir. I mean, I tried to call him even more often. If I was anywhere close to Hampton, I tried to stop by and check on him, tried to make him go places and do things, not much, but I felt like he needed to get out. You know, just -- you know, I was worried he was going to hurt himself. I mean, I was worried he was going to kill himself just like I think a lot of people were, family and lawyers, his partners. And so we all talked regularly about keeping an eye on him and about being there for him.
MR. WATERS: After a few weeks go by, the shock starts to abate just a little bit.
CHRIS WILSON: It still hadn't abated, Mr. Waters.
MR. WATERS: I understand, but just a little bit.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: At some point does the defendant call you about those fees?
CHRIS WILSON: He does, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Do you remember roughly when that was?
CHRIS WILSON: Sometime around the middle of July.
MR. WATERS: What does the defendant say to you?
CHRIS WILSON: He tells me that he has not been able to put the monies into the annuities like he thought he could, that he's messed it up, and that the monies needed to be paid to his firm and that he's going -- that he needs to send the money back to me to run it through my trust account to write the checks to his firm directly.
MR. WATERS: Do you remember how that conversation came up?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember exactly how it came up, no, sir.
MR. WATERS: But he contacted you to say hey, I messed up those annuities. I need to send the money back to you, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did he send the money back to you?
CHRIS WILSON: Not all of it, no, sir.
MR. WATERS: What did he send back to you?
CHRIS WILSON: 600,000 of the 792.
MR. WATERS: And in what form did he send that money back to you?
CHRIS WILSON: It came in two -- the 600,000 came in two separate wires, wire transfers.
MR. WATERS: Tell me about those.
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember the dates, but I think it was July 15, July 16, somewhere around in there. I -- one came from Palmetto State Bank, and I think one came from Bank of America.
MR. WATERS: One for 350 and one for 250, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, I believe that's right.
MR. WATERS: That was only $600,000. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And you had disbursed to him directly how much?
CHRIS WILSON: 792,000.
MR. WATERS: Did you have a conversation with him about the fact that it was $192,000 short?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: What was that conversation?
CHRIS WILSON: He told me that he had already put the 192,000 away to where he wasn't going to be able to access it. I took it that he'd already put it into the annuity and that it wasn't going to be available without some type of penalties or costs. And he said I don't have the 192 but I'll be able to get it to you very shortly, or soon. I don't remember if he said within a couple of days or a couple of weeks or when he said, but it was soon.
MR. WATERS: What did he want you to do, though, once this money came back in? Did he ask you to do anything?
CHRIS WILSON: To rewrite the checks payable for the fees to his firm.
MR. WATERS: Did he ask you to communicate with the firm at all?
CHRIS WILSON: He asked me when the money was back into the account if I could send an email that I was holding those monies so that they would know those monies were in the trust account.
MR. WATERS: All right, but you're $192,000 short, so what was his discussion then?
CHRIS WILSON: He asked me -- he told me he didn't have the $192,000. And, I mean, at that point I know that I've got a trust account for which I'm responsible for. I've got money that's supposed to have been in my trust account payable to his firm for fees, that's my responsibility, and so I had to put $192,000 of my own money in my trust to hold for the fees for his firm.
MR. WATERS: And how did you do that? How did you put $192,000 of your own money in your trust account to cover the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: I wrote a check from myself and put it into my trust account.
MR. WATERS: And just quickly, explain to the jury why you have to do that. What is it about a trust account that you have to do that if you're going to send that email to the firm?
CHRIS WILSON: Because I can't tell somebody I'm holding money in my trust account that I'm not holding in my trust account. I'm responsible for that trust account. Trust accounts are money that belong to someone else that you're holding in a fiduciary relationship, and you're responsible to make sure that those monies are held and disbursed appropriately, and at this point I'm hearing that I haven't disbursed or paid those monies the way they were supposed to be paid.
MR. WATERS: At that point in time, did he ask you to cover that money, or is that just kind of a given that he was short?
CHRIS WILSON: I knew I had to, and I think he asked me to. But I knew that I to.
MR. WATERS: So, you get the 600,000 from the two wires and you write 192,000 of your own money?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And then you send an email to the law firm. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: I send an email to Alex --
MR. WATERS: To Alex?
CHRIS WILSON: -- yes, sir, that he tells me he's going to forward to his firm which I, you know, ultimately found out that he did forward to the bookkeeper and one of his partners.
MR. WATERS: I'm going to show you State's 349 and see if you recognize that.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. This is an email that I sent on Monday, July the 19th of 2021, to Alex.
MR. WATERS: Is that the email you're talking about?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this time I would move State's 349 into evidence.
MR. GRIFFIN: No additional objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(EMAIL MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 349 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: Can you read that email to the jury, please?
CHRIS WILSON: Sure: Alex, as discussed, I'm confirming that I am holding in trust $600,000 in the -- And that's just redacted to take the gentleman's name out. -- the gentleman's case, and $192 in the -- And that's redacted out to take out the wife's name. -- in the wife's case which represent attorneys' fees. I will continue to hold these monies in trust until I am instructed by you or your firm regarding payment.
MR. WATERS: After you sent that email, did the firm contact you? Did you have to disburse the money, or did that just kind of end the matter?
CHRIS WILSON: Not until September the 3rd when Lee Cope called me after they claimed -- after they say that they had discovered that Alex was stealing money.
MR. WATERS: Well, let's talk about the interim. But at that point in time, you sent that email and nobody is making any further inquiry at that point in time. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: And that money is just sitting there?
CHRIS WILSON: It is sitting in my trust account.
MR. WATERS: Including your personal 192 that you wrote to cover Alex, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you have ever have a conversation with Alex about when he was supposedly going to get you that money?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Tell me about that.
CHRIS WILSON: I know we talked about it one time. I think it was at the August convention down in Hilton Head that most of the lawyers that do what we do attend. I had begged Alex to come down there and for Buster to come with him at least one day to play golf with some of us so they could get out and do something, so Buster could do something normal. And I think it was while we were playing golf that I said hey, where do we stand on you getting me repaid? He told me that -- you know, I knew that Maggie's estate would be tied up and I figured that that was a delay. He told me that he was, you know, moving towards selling some property and that his father had, you know, had obviously just passed, and then there would be some monies coming to him from his father's estate and that he was working on it, trying to do it as quickly as he could. He apologized for it taking longer than he said it would.
MR. WATERS: Had he told you that he had tied up some money in structures, something like that, and that's why he couldn't get to it right then?
CHRIS WILSON: That's what he told me why he couldn't get the $192,000 because, that he had already put it into -- the way I understood it, he had already put it into the annuity and couldn't get it back out. I think once you put those monies away is my understanding is you can't just pull them right back out. It's not like a checking account or savings account where you can deposit and withdraw immediately.
MR. WATERS: But that's what he's explaining to you, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: So, that conversation you had with him at the Trial Lawyers' Conference playing golf, that was when roughly?
CHRIS WILSON: The first weekend in August. Actually it would probably be that -- we normally try to play golf on that Thursday, so whatever the first Thursday in August is.
MR. WATERS: Not long after that, did you have another conversation with him about the money that you had covered for him?
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. WATERS: And roughly when was that?
CHRIS WILSON: Some time shortly after that in the middle of August maybe, I called him and said I need to come see you and talk to you about something, and I went down and talked to him about this money. But it wasn't something that was -- I mean, it was about the money. I needed it to be repaid. I mean, that's a lot of money to me and I wanted to be repaid.
MR. WATERS: $192,000, that's a lot of money.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: A lot of money to anybody.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: I show you what's been marked as State's 350. Do you recognize that?
CHRIS WILSON: I do.
MR. WATERS: What is that?
CHRIS WILSON: So --
MR. WATERS: What's the date on that first?
CHRIS WILSON: August 17th of 2021.
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, at this point I would move State's 350 into evidence.
MR. GRIFFIN: No additional objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(PROMISSORY NOTE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 350 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: All right. Tell me about that document. What happened and what's your conversations related to that document?
CHRIS WILSON: At some point in time when I'm talking to Alex, I said hey, I need to come see you in your office and talk with you about something. I don't even think I told him exactly what it was. He said sure. So, I went down and went in his office. I said look. I hate to even talk to you about this and I hate to ask you this, but if something happens to you, you know -- and I think I phrased it like if you get hit by a car or something happens and you die, I can't get repaid that money against your estate unless there's something in writing between us. I knew enough to know -- enough of the law to know that you can't enforce an agreement with a person that's deceased against their estate unless you've got some documentation of it. And I said Bo, I hate to even ask you to do this -- and I was worried that he was going to kill himself, you know, still at that point, and I was worried about what that would -- was worried about what that would mean more so on, on a human personal level, but also what that would mean about me trying to get repaid. And I said I hate to ask you to do this, but can we do this? And he said sure. No problem.
MR. WATERS: All right.
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, that's our agreement and sure. And so we scratched out. He handwrote it, three sentences, nothing formal or fancy.
MR. WATERS: This is on what day?
CHRIS WILSON: August 17th, and I was in his office.
MR. WATERS: Hold for me one second.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, I will have you go to the jury room for a recess. Please do not discuss the case.
(The jury left the courtroom.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes, sir?
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, I just, out of an abundance of caution and I before we got to this portion of the witness's testimony, as Your Honor is aware from the in-camera proceedings, there is -- he has a confrontation with the defendant and the defendant tells him some things that he --
JUDGE NEWMAN: Who has a confrontation?
MR. WATERS: The witness here has a confrontation with the defendant at his mother's porch after receiving word about what the law firm had found. And from the in-camera testimony, the witness has testified that the defendant, you know, admits the financial misdeeds, says he had a drug issue, I think going to rehab and some things like that, and that is, I believe, on the early afternoon of September 4th, and then not long after that he hears that the defendant was shot on the side of the road. And so we've had some discussions about the drug issue, so before eliciting that testimony, I just wanted -- I alerted the defense and wanted to make sure that we had set our ground rules on that, and then, of course, the side of the road issue which we've talk about earlier --
JUDGE NEWMAN: So, what ground rules did you set?
MR. WATERS: Well, Your Honor sets the ground rules, and that's --
JUDGE NEWMAN: You take a break during asking -- questioning the witness to have a conference with counsel.
MR. WATERS: Well, I am seeking to admit that evidence not only of what the defendant said about his drug use but also to submit that not long after that, he heard about the side of the road incident, and I, you know, out of an abundance of caution raise that issue. And I believe the defense is going to object, and I'm trying to get in the opportunity to do that in an in-camera setting.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right.
MR. WATERS: Which, Your Honor, for both of those I think they are admissible. First of all, again, we're not offering any drug use, and we had some discussion about that yesterday. We're not offering any drug use for the purposes of what's improper under 404. In this particular instance, the defense himself identifies that as a reason for these alleged misdeeds. So, not only is it not 404, it's just part of the res gestae of his statements, which is part of what's been admitted.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Well, drug use was admitted yesterday, so we're beyond that issue as far as the Court is concerned.
MR. WATERS: All right, and then as far as the side of the road --
JUDGE NEWMAN: The particulars of which have not been disclosed, but the email from Mr. Murdaugh during rehab is published by the defense.
MR. WATERS: Yes, sir. And then secondly along with the side of the road, again, at this point in time just going to be admitted that he had heard about what had happened to the defendant. There are other -- are other circumstances that we talked about earlier that, you know, we would address at a later time about the side of the road, which we believe is admissible and admissible under 404. We could have -- I don't know that we need to have an in-camera proceeding at this point in detail about that, but I just -- because all he's going to say is he heard that that happened, and -- but I just wanted to -- again, out of an abundance of caution, we've gone this far. I just want to be -- you know, before I elicited anything along those lines, just wanted to work with the defense and give them a chance to object.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. Mr. Griffin?
MR. GRIFFIN: And we do object, Your Honor. First, he's not the proper witness to be testifying about what happened on the side of the road. He's just hearing it secondhand, so any information he has is just hearsay. In the in-camera hearing, he also provided his opinion that Alex must have tried to commit suicide and that is improper. So, the first is hearsay. But more importantly, Your Honor, it is a bridge too far under the narrow exception that you've offered, that they're offering this evidence of financial crimes that he -- that it's a motive for this alleged murder that he committed. And so the fact that whether it was an assisted suicide, or if they want to go further and say it's part of the same scheme and that it's a sympathy ploy, which the Court hasn't ruled upon and we don't think that this meets the standard there, and, you know, it violates Rule 403. So, for all of those reasons, we object to it coming in to evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Do you want to proffer what Mr. Wilson -- Attorney Wilson is going to say about it?
MR. WATERS: I believe during his prior testimony in the in-camera hearing -- and I certainly can do that -- he testified --
JUDGE NEWMAN: I recall his prior testimony, which did not involve anything about a roadside shooting.
MR. WATERS: Well -- and so I'll go ahead and proffer it, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes.
PROFFERED EXAMINATION
BY MR. WATERS:
MR. WATERS: So, Mr. Wilson, kind of jumping ahead, you had a confrontation with the defendant on September 4th when you drove to Hampton County to have a meeting with him on the porch of Almeda. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes.
MR. WATERS: All right, and pull the mic forward to you a little bit.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes.
MR. WATERS: And without getting into all of that detail, after that conversation he made some admissions to you at that time. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And just very quickly tell the Court what he said.
CHRIS WILSON: He admitted or said that he had had a drug problem for twenty-plus years and that he was going to rehab, and then he said -- he admitted he'd been stealing money.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and did he say anything about the 192 with you? Did he have a phrase he used for that?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: What did he say?
CHRIS WILSON: Uh --
JUDGE NEWMAN: You don't have to proffer this portion. You're indicating you're trying to get -- go beyond this into something else.
MR. WATERS: What time did this --
MR. WATERS: Yes, sir, Your Honor.
MR. WATERS: What time did this conversation take place roughly?
CHRIS WILSON: Mid/late morning just before lunch.
MR. WATERS: All right, and that's on September 4th?
CHRIS WILSON: Saturday, September 4th, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: After that confrontation, did you leave?
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. WATERS: And where did you go?
CHRIS WILSON: I went through Hardee's in Hampton, grabbed a bite of lunch at the drive-thru, and then drove back towards Columbia.
MR. WATERS: Did you hear about anything relating to the defendant within a couple hours?
CHRIS WILSON: I did. I got a phone call from Lee Cope. It might have been Randy but I think it was Lee Cope. He called me and told me that Alex had been shot in the head and was being helicoptered -- I thought he said to Savannah Hospital. I know he said to, to the hospital on a helicopter.
END OF PROFFER
MR. WATERS: That's as far as, as this witness would go.
JUDGE NEWMAN: I sustain the objection as to this portion of the testimony. I agree with the defense. It's hearsay and it's -- he's not the appropriate witness to testify on this issue.
MR. WATERS: All right. Thank you -- Your Honor. So, obviously --
CHRIS WILSON: Can't talk about it.
MR. WATERS: Right, and obviously you're lawyer and you understand where to stop.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: All right.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right, we'll take a recess for about 10 minutes.
(A recess was taken.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: You may bring the jury.
(The jury returned to the courtroom.)
COURT BAILIFF: The jury is present, sir.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Thank you. You may proceed.
MR. WATERS: Thank you, Your Honor.
BY MR. WATERS:
MR. WATERS: When we left off, we were talking about the $192,000 that you had put in your trust account to cover the defendant, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And he had signed his promissory note up on the screen. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Before I move on, real quick I want to show you what's been previously admitted into evidence as State's 313 and see if you recognize that.
CHRIS WILSON: I do, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: What is that?
CHRIS WILSON: It looks like the original of the $225,000 check payable to Richard Alexander Murdaugh from my trust account dated March 10th of 2021 on this case.
MR. WATERS: All right, and that's your signature on there. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: To catch the jury back up, he had asked you to send that email. You sent that email in July and then you had those conversations in August that ultimately led to that promissory note, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And then nothing more going on with it. Does anything happen in early September related to this?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: What date was it?
CHRIS WILSON: Friday, September the 3rd.
MR. WATERS: Tell me what happened.
CHRIS WILSON: About 3:00 in that afternoon, I'm with a group of guys. I get a phone call from Lee Cope. I tell Lee that I can't really talk much because I'm in the middle of a crowd. He says Alex is stealing money, that we found out that Alex is stealing money from the firm and clients and he's going to resign from the firm, and he wanted to know if I had the $792,000 in my trust account. I told him I did. He said, well, we're going to need to get that paid to us and asked me not to say anything to anybody about any of it until the following Tuesday when they could issue a press release.
MR. WATERS: When you told him you had that $792,000 in your trust account, did that still include $192,000 that you had covered?
CHRIS WILSON: It did.
MR. WATERS: What happened next?
CHRIS WILSON: I talked to Lee very briefly. Again, he told me he was in the middle of trying to deal with all that they were dealing with and he couldn't talk. That first phone call from him was, like, very brief, and then I think we talked again after I got away from the crowd. But he told me that he couldn't talk long, that they were in the middle of trying to deal with all that they were dealing with, and that we would talk later. And, I mean, I had to kind of go back to the crowd that I was with and try to act as much as I could like normal so that, you know -- I mean, I think they realized that I had stepped away to take a phone call and that it bothered me. I tried to pretend like things were as normal as could be until I could get away from that crowd.
MR. WATERS: Did this shock you to hear this?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Is that something that you expected to hear about your friend, the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: Not at all. I mean, I didn't expect that to be the purpose of Lee's phone call to me when I took it.
MR. WATERS: What happened next? Did you attempt to call the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: I think I texted him. I may have tried to call him after I got where I wasn't in the middle of a crowd of people. I think I may have called or text him, or both, and he texted me back something to the effect of that he couldn't talk right then, that I think he said he was meeting with probate attorneys or something to that effect and that he couldn't talk right then, that he would call later and we could talk later.
MR. WATERS: When Lee Cope called you, did he say anything about this check that's up on the screen?
CHRIS WILSON: He did.
MR. WATERS: What did he say?
CHRIS WILSON: He said that they had found a check in Alex's office from my firm that was made payable directly to him. I don't remember exactly how he described it, but he said about the check we found out that Alex is stealing money from the clients and the firm, and we found a check from your office, and I need to know if you've got that $792,000 in your account. We're going to need to get that paid to us, and I need you not to say anything until Tuesday when we can issue a press release.
MR. WATERS: How long do you think after you got that call or those calls from Lee that you tried to reach out to your friend, the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: Probably took me a hour or maybe two to finish what we were doing and get to where I could -- where I felt like I could reach out to him without being in the middle of other people.
MR. WATERS: And what was his response again?
CHRIS WILSON: Something to the effect of he couldn't talk right then, that he was -- I think it was something to do with the fact of meeting with probate attorneys or something like that, and that he would talk to me later.
MR. WATERS: This is on September 3rd?
CHRIS WILSON: Friday, September the 3rd. The phone call from Lee was about 3:00 in the afternoon or so.
MR. WATERS: Did you talk to Alex later on that day?
CHRIS WILSON: That night, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And what was your conversation then?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember if he called me or I called him or was able to get him. And I said Alex, I need to know what's going on. You know, Lee has called me about this and I need to talk to you and it needs to be face to face. I need to know what's going on. And he was non-committal about meeting, said he had a number of things he had to deal with and that he would try to meet with me the next day.
MR. WATERS: Okay. So, what happened?
CHRIS WILSON: I was at home. My wife was there. You know, I mean, I was talking to him on the phone, but I wanted to talk to him face to face to find out what was going on.
MR. WATERS: How were you feeling?
CHRIS WILSON: Shocked, betrayed, mad. I mean, I don't know. Numb. I didn't --
MR. WATERS: What happened the next morning? Was that Saturday?
CHRIS WILSON: Saturday morning, September the 4th.
MR. WATERS: What year?
CHRIS WILSON: 2021.
MR. WATERS: Did you try and get in touch with the defendant?
CHRIS WILSON: I did. I woke up early that morning, told my wife -- I mean, I had, you know, told her that evening that there was a problem. I didn't get into a lot of detail with her. Just told her there was a problem, and woke up the next morning, told her I was going to drive down to Beaufort. I thought Alex was staying at his brother's house and I was going to drive down and talk to him. So, I got in the car and took off driving towards Okatie.
MR. WATERS: Were you trying to get in touch with him and --
CHRIS WILSON: Called him and called him and called him a bunch.
MR. WATERS: Not getting in touch with him?
CHRIS WILSON: No answer, no, sir.
MR. WATERS: So, you just decided to go on down there and find him.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: So, you drive where?
CHRIS WILSON: I started driving down I-95 towards Okatie, and he called me before -- I was going to get off and go to John Marvin's place, but he got off -- he called me --
MR. WATERS: Slow down. When you say Okatie, what's Okatie?
CHRIS WILSON: That's what I call the area where his brother, John Marvin, lives. It might not be technically correct but what's what I call it.
MR. WATERS: But that's where you thought he was?
CHRIS WILSON: I was under the impression that's where he was staying, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: So, you were just going to show up?
CHRIS WILSON: I was hoping that he would call me back on my way but if not, I was going to show up, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And so what happened along the way?
CHRIS WILSON: He called me while I was on the road down there and told me he was sorry he hadn't been able to take my calls, and that he would meet me at his mother and father's house in Almeda.
MR. WATERS: Did that meeting ultimately happen?
CHRIS WILSON: It did.
MR. WATERS: About what time did that happen?
CHRIS WILSON: Kind of late mid-morning. I want to say around 11:00 or so, some time before lunch.
MR. WATERS: Okay, and so tell me about that meeting.
CHRIS WILSON: I got there before he did. I think I waited in the car out -- maybe out in front of the driveway, and then when he pulled in I followed him in. We got out, didn't say anything in the driveway, went through the side door. I believe the caretaker was there, the lady that helped take care of -- one of the ladies at least that helped take care of Ms. Libby was there. She went kind of towards the back, and he and I went out on the front porch.
MR. WATERS: Okay. What was your conversation with him on the front porch? About what time was this again?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't know the exact time. Some time between 10:30 and noon, but I want to say it was around 11:00 or so. It was about -- I was there for about 20 minutes.
MR. WATERS: All right. Tell me about the conversation that you had.
CHRIS WILSON: We went out on the front porch, still hadn't said anything to each other other than he said let's go out on the front porch and talk. Went out on the front porch and I looked at him and I said Alex -- I'm sure I said F or H or something. I said what the, you know, is going on? I need to know what's going on because I know about this thing that Lee has called me about, and I need to know if there's something that you've done that involves me that I don't know about that's a problem for me. What is going on?
MR. WATERS: What does he say?
CHRIS WILSON: He didn't say anything. He broke down crying. He said I can't talk, I can't right this second, Chris. He walked inside and grabbed a handful of paper towels and came back out on the porch and said, you know, I'm sorry. I've had a drug problem. I'm addicted to opioids, and I don't remember if he said twenty years or exactly how many years, but he said I've been addicted to opioids for something like twenty years I think is what he said. And, you know, I don't remember exactly how the conversation went. There were parts where it was, I mean, I don't want to say heated like we were screaming and hollering at each other. I mean, it never came to blows, but there were parts where it was heated and parts where it was silent and parts where it was probably calmer. He said he had a drug addiction and that he admitted he'd been stealing money, you know --
MR. WATERS: From who?
CHRIS WILSON: From his law firm and from clients.
MR. WATERS: Did he say --
CHRIS WILSON: And from -- he didn't specifically spell any certain person out or any certain organization and all, but he said I've been stealing from the firm and from clients.
MR. WATERS: What did he say about that 192 with you? What was the phrase he used?
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, I'll have to cuss to say it. He said --
MR. WATERS: Go ahead and say it.
CHRIS WILSON: He said I've shit you up. I'm sorry. I've shit you up. I've shit a lot of people up. I asked him how long has this been going on. I couldn't believe that I didn't know it, never saw it, never suspected it, drugs or money.
MR. WATERS: And what did he say? What did he say?
CHRIS WILSON: He said it had been going on for a long time.
MR. WATERS: Did he say anything else in this conversation?
CHRIS WILSON: He said he'd been good about covering it up, especially the drugs. I mean, I didn't really ask much about the -- I didn't know the extent of the client stuff. I knew about me and my $192,000. And in the phone call with Lee, he had said that Alex had been stealing from the firm and from clients, but I didn't know about any specific clients or any specific cases, so I didn't -- we didn't talk about that. I didn't ask about that.
MR. WATERS: How did the conversation end?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember exactly how it ended. I know I left. I don't remember -- like I said, I know we didn't come to blows and we weren't screaming and hollering at each other when I left, and I wasn't screaming and hollering at him. I was angry. I was -- I didn't know how to feel. But at some point I left.
MR. WATERS: Where did you go after that?
CHRIS WILSON: I started driving back to Columbia and just went through the drive-thru at Hardee's in Hampton and grabbed something for lunch on the way out.
MR. WATERS: Since that conversation on September 4th shortly before noon, have you had any conversation with the defendant since then?
CHRIS WILSON: No verbal conversations, no, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you ever get a text from him?
CHRIS WILSON: I've received one or two texts from him.
MR. WATERS: I'm going to show you what has been marked as State's 351 and see if you recognize this.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. That's a text I received from Alex on September the 16th. I responded on September the 17th.
MR. WATERS: I put State's 351 on the screen. Is this a text you received from Alex?
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, I'm not sure he's offered that into evidence.
MR. WATERS: Oh, my apologies, Your Honor. At this time I would offer State's 351 into evidence.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Yes, sir?
MR. GRIFFIN: No additional objection.
JUDGE NEWMAN: It's admitted.
(TEXT MESSAGE MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 351 WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE.)
MR. WATERS: I'll put it up on the screen. Is that the text you received from the Alex?
CHRIS WILSON: It is, yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Was that the usual number you had for him or was that a different number?
CHRIS WILSON: It's not the normal number. I don't know that I had ever seen that number before.
MR. WATERS: Since that time, you haven't had any conversation with him?
CHRIS WILSON: I think he texted me maybe one other time and I tried to respond with something as basic as what I said there, just trying to respond but not really communicate. I think there may have been one other text very similar to that.
MR. WATERS: Did you ever get that $192,000 back?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: And when you covered your friend and put that in your trust account, is it because you trusted him?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: On June 7, 2021, looking again at State's 452, the defendant did text you: Call me if you're up. Correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And going back to 451, you called him once and he didn't answer and then got that second call. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. He texted me at 9:52. I called him at 9:52, one minute. There was no answer, and then I called back at 9:53.
MR. WATERS: And that was a three minute call, that second call?
CHRIS WILSON: I can't read on the sheet, but it was very short. I think it was three or 4 minutes, 2 or 3 minutes.
MR. WATERS: 2 or 3 minutes, 3 or 4 minutes?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, very short.
MR. WATERS: And you talked to him. I think you testified, mentioned a couple of things that he said that he was where and he needed to go?
CHRIS WILSON: He said I'm about to get back home. You know, service is always bad out here. Can we just talk tomorrow? Or he might have said I'm about to get back to Moselle. I don't remember which phrase he used.
MR. WATERS: Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Please answer any questions that the defense has.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Mr. Griffin?
MR. GRIFFIN: Thank you, Your Honor.
CROSS-EXAMINATION
BY MR. GRIFFIN:
MR. GRIFFIN: Good morning, Mr. Wilson.
CHRIS WILSON: Good morning, Mr. Griffin.
MR. GRIFFIN: One thing you said in answering Mr. Water's questions on when you got to Moselle late night on the 7th or early morning on the 8th, he asked you something about did you talk to Alex about the fee issue. And your response was I did not know there was an issue with the fee. Is that correct?
CHRIS WILSON: That's correct.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you did not know that there was any issue with the fee on June 7, 2021, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: The only conversation you had with anyone about the fee on -- before June 7th of 2021 from the law firm was with Lee Cope, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he just asked you something about do you still have money from the Faris case in your trust account.
CHRIS WILSON: He asked me if all the money had been disbursed from those cases.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you told him it had not. You told him truthfully it had not, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. We were holding money back for medical liens, costs, a number of different things.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you never had any follow-up questions by Mr. Cope before June 7th, right?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: You did have a conversation with Alex and he gave you some explanation. I forgot. What was the explanation he gave you?
CHRIS WILSON: After I got -- after my paralegal, Vickie, forwarded me that email that she had received from their firm saying that there was an issue with the costs, I called Alex and said hey. Look. I've got this email that says there's a problem with costs, that you think you're owed more costs, no mention of fees, and if you're owed more costs, just let me know what they are and we'll get it worked out. We were holding money to deal with some things, and I didn't think the client would have any problem making sure all of our costs got made before the final amount of money was disbursed to the client. I said hey, if there's a problem with costs, let me know. And he said no, it's good. I said this is the case I disbursed everything directly to you on the fees. Is everything all right? He said yeah, it's fine. The firm knows about it. I've just got to make sure they know it's on the books already.
MR. GRIFFIN: So, he wasn't frantic, panicked. There's no panic in his voice about the conversation about the fee that you had.
CHRIS WILSON: Nothing that I heard or saw, no, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right. So, as far as you knew as of June 7th, there's no issue with the fee, right?
CHRIS WILSON: I didn't know about any issue with fees prior to June 7th or even after that.
MR. GRIFFIN: No one was demanding from you the Faris fee money, the PMPED portion of the Faris fee money before June 7th.
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir. I had not received any direct contact or request for payment of fees. My paralegal had already advised his paralegal that the fees had already been paid.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and you said a number of times on your -- in your testimony that in June and July, you were worried that Alex may kill himself.
CHRIS WILSON: We were worried that -- I mean, he was distraught, he's destroyed, and upset all the time, and not eating, not sleeping, sometimes not seeming like he was just focused in and even there. Not just me. I mean, his law partners, his family. I talked to his brothers. I talked to his -- I talked to his partners several times throughout the month of June and July just about him, you know, what we were worried about may happen or what he may do.
MR. GRIFFIN: And the reason he was distraught is over the death of Maggie and Paul, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes. I mean --
MR. GRIFFIN: And at no point in time when you're thinking I'm afraid he might hurt himself, you weren't thinking he had any involvement in June, July, during this period of time with the murders of Maggie and Paul.
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that he was -- your thoughts were with him because he was a grieving husband and father.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. My thoughts were with him and his whole family, you know, especially him and Buster.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you reached out to him as much as you could.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Now, there did come a time when you were a little worried about your $192,000 and you asked him to sign this handwritten promissory note? You testified about that?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you had a conversation about how he was going to get you paid, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And in that conversation --
CHRIS WILSON: Well, that conversation about how he was going to get me paid I think was prior to that. I don't think we talked about how I was going to get paid when he signed the 192,000. I just simply knew enough to know -- or felt like I knew enough of probate law and law that if something happened to him, whether he did it to himself or something happened to him, I couldn't make a claim against his estate without that piece of paper. So, I don't think we talked about payment or how he might get me paid that day. He had mentioned previously that he was trying to deal with Maggie's estate, he was trying to deal with his father's estate, and he had some property that he thought he was going to sell.
MR. GRIFFIN: But he was telling you that he did not have the money at the time when you asked --
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that conversation was before the day of the promissory note, which I think was mid-August or something?
CHRIS WILSON: August 17th I think it was.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that he mentioned that Maggie's estate was tied up, and his dad had died. Do you remember when his dad died?
CHRIS WILSON: Very vividly, yes, sir, very much. It was Thursday, June the 10th.
MR. GRIFFIN: June 10th? It was, like, three days after Maggie and Paul were murdered, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that wasn't unexpected, was it? His dad had been seriously ill.
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir. I went back to see Mr. Randolph one of those days after June the 7th but before June the 10th. My wife and I had gone down to see Buster and Alex, or she had come down while I was already there, and we rode over to Almeda mostly to see Randolph but to see Libby, too.
MR. GRIFFIN: And I guess he died within a day or so after you visiting with him.
CHRIS WILSON: I think it was the next day.
MR. GRIFFIN: But Alex thought he was going to get some money from his dad's estate that maybe didn't go through probate that would enable him to quickly pay you back?
CHRIS WILSON: That's what he said, yes, sir. I don't think he said anything about it going directly through. He just said, you know, I have got some money that will be coming to me from my father's estate also.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you know the difference between life insurance beneficiaries or life insurance policies that benefits do not go through the estate, do not get tied up in estate?
CHRIS WILSON: Just enough to be dangerous probably, but yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, the point is he never said to you, oh, I have this million dollar policy on Maggie's life, I have a five million dollar policy on Maggie's life, or any life insurance that he was expecting to come into as a result Maggie's death, right?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir, not at all.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and after Maggie died and Paul died, he wasn't out spending lavishly with new-found money, was he?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir, not that I saw.
MR. GRIFFIN: In fact, he didn't even go to Moselle to stay a single night after Maggie and Paul were murdered. Do you know that?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't know that myself directly, but every time I spoke to him, he was either staying with his brothers or staying with his in-laws. I don't think he ever went back to Moselle.
MR. GRIFFIN: Now, you've known Alex for --
CHRIS WILSON: 1985, '86, however long that is. Thirty-seven years, I guess, if my math is right.
MR. GRIFFIN: Your math is better than mine.
CHRIS WILSON: Thirty-eight, something like that.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he said to you that he had had an opioid addiction for over twenty years?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember exactly the number of years, I mean, but I believe he said I've been addicted to opioids for about twenty years or more than twenty years.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, let's just say the last five years. Over the last five years you've known him, if he was addicted to opioids, did you notice any change in his behavior?
CHRIS WILSON: Not a thing, not at all.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you were around him in a business capacity?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Professional? You were sending him cases?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: He was acting like the normal Alex that you've known since college?
CHRIS WILSON: Since law school.
MR. GRIFFIN: Since law school?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And nothing about his demeanor set red flags off to you as to, man, he must be on something today?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir. I mean, I didn't see pill bottles when we would travel together for depositions or things like that. He didn't seem to be out of it. He seemed to be capable of handling the work that we were doing. You know, when we would socialize together, didn't see anything that indicated that he was addicted or had a drug problem or was abusing drugs.
MR. GRIFFIN: And if he was on -- addicted to drugs for the last five or ten years and he was, in your observation, was a loving husband and father?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you didn't observe him engaging in any erratic behavior around his wife and kids?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Do you know anything about -- from your medical -- well, medical -- from your legal career handing personal injury cases, do you know -- you learn information about building up tolerances to painkillers, patients and clients of yours who have built up tolerances?
CHRIS WILSON: Not really enough to talk about it much or testify for sure.
MR. GRIFFIN: Sure. So, I'm going to back and cover some ground you've already talked about.
CHRIS WILSON: Sure.
MR. GRIFFIN: Law school. You and Alex were roommates at one point in time, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he actually married Maggie while he was in law school, right?
CHRIS WILSON: He did.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you married Dana after you graduated or while you were in law school as well?
CHRIS WILSON: Shortly after graduation.
MR. GRIFFIN: And Maggie and Dana were sorority sisters at the University of South Carolina?
CHRIS WILSON: They were.
MR. GRIFFIN: You went to the South Carolina Law School but you were --
CHRIS WILSON: Wofford College in Spartanburg undergrad.
MR. GRIFFIN: -- in the upstate, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you were -- and you became really good friends with Alex during law school.
CHRIS WILSON: Alex and I got to be -- we were friends and hung out a lot, studied together, did some things like that first year, but we got to be much closer friends second -- throughout that end of the first year of law school. We lived together second year, and he married Maggie into our third year of law school.
MR. GRIFFIN: And then you married Dana and y'all would do a lot of things together as couples, would you not?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And one of the things y'all liked to do is go to South Carolina football games.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Alex played for the University of South Carolina. Do you remember that?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And had a knee injury when he was playing?
CHRIS WILSON: I did know that, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And then as you grow, married couples, you had children, he has children. Your oldest daughter was one year younger than Buster?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And then you have a son who is --
CHRIS WILSON: Two years younger than Paul?
MR. GRIFFIN: -- a few years younger than Paul, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And your daughter and Paul were really good friends.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And friends with Buster as well.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. Our kids grew up together. Even our youngest who's younger than their two, they all grew up together.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you and Dana and your kids, and Maggie and Alex and Paul and Buster would vacation together when they were younger before the kids started wanting to do things on their own, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. We would vacation together and go on, you know, trips away while the kids were younger and would follow you around, and as they got older kind of doing their own things, those vacations kind went by the wayside. But we would spend a lot of time down at Edisto Beach. We have a house down at Edisto and they had a house, house at Edisto, and so a lot of our time together would be spent down there, or at Columbia at Carolina football games or things like that. And my wife and Maggie were sorority sisters and became much closer friend through Alex and my friendship.
MR. GRIFFIN: And I'll get on to that a little more. And you did a lot of work with Alex. You weren't in the same law firm with him but you worked on the same cases, or related cases a lot, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. More so in the beginning, but throughout the entire time I've known him, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And so just sort of some examples. So, two people were in an automobile accident, one is a driver and one is a passenger, the same lawyer shouldn't represent both parties to the accident, right?
CHRIS WILSON: In most cases, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And so frequently you would send him the passenger or the driver or vice versa?
CHRIS WILSON: Sometimes it would be that, and sometimes it would just be straight I represent somebody who's been injured in some way and I need you to help me with that one person. But sometimes what you're talking about there about referring the -- one of the two people out, it was called conflict of interest, or conflicting them out, and Alex would conflict my case sometimes and I would conflict him cases sometimes.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you had a lot of respect for his ability as a lawyer.
CHRIS WILSON: I wouldn't have associated him or sent people to him if I didn't.
MR. GRIFFIN: You wouldn't have associated him on the Faris case if you didn't think he could do a good job.
CHRIS WILSON: Not at all.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he did a really good job in the Faris case, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I mean, our result was very -- our client was very satisfied with the result.
MR. GRIFFIN: And Alex participated fully in the entire case, and I think Mr. Waters asked you, he gave the closing argument to the judge?
CHRIS WILSON: He did. I mean, we had to spend a lot of time getting ready for trial even though it wasn't in front of a jury, which sometimes doesn't come with quite as much -- quite as many things to have to do. Even in front a judge it takes a lot of work to put a case together. So, we spent a lot of time getting ready for that trial, and even working the weekend before it started in Columbia out of, out of a central location there.
MR. GRIFFIN: And had you tried cases with Alex in the past?
CHRIS WILSON: I have.
MR. GRIFFIN: Tried cases with Alex if front of juries like this right here?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And I don't have to tell you, but doing what we're doing here can be very stressful, can it not?
CHRIS WILSON: It's very stressful, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Long nights and get up early in the morning.
CHRIS WILSON: A lot of hours juggling a lot of things.
MR. GRIFFIN: And did you ever -- or were around him during the stress of trial or cases where he just totally lost it, lost his faculties, just went off on a handle because he was on opioids? Did you ever see anything like that?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: He was able to function in high stress situations, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I mean, sometimes getting Alex to focus on the case and on what you were trying get accomplished was difficult, but that was from all the way back in law school; that was from day one. But when he focused, he was extremely -- he was extremely able to get it done.
MR. GRIFFIN: And one witness described Alex normally as being fidgety.
CHRIS WILSON: Just sometimes not as focused as you would like for him to be. He was taking phone calls and talking to this and looking at that and taking another phone call and, you know, sometimes you had to say look, man, we've got to sit down and focus on this and get this taken care of.
MR. GRIFFIN: Now, that brings me to another point. Would he always take a phone call if Maggie called him?
CHRIS WILSON: Always.
MR. GRIFFIN: Would he always take a phone call if Paul called him?
CHRIS WILSON: Always.
MR. GRIFFIN: Would he always take the phone call if Buster called him?
CHRIS WILSON: Always.
MR. GRIFFIN: No matter what was going on?
CHRIS WILSON: Not when -- when I was around him, if we were in court he wouldn't take the phone call, but in depositions he would sometimes get up and walk out and take calls. If you were taking to him and trying get a full conversation out with him in one breath was impossible because he was going to take a phone call.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you traveled around with him for business?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Did he -- was he frequently talking to his wife and sons?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, seemed to be.
MR. GRIFFIN: You talked to him multiple times a day, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: When you were with him, did you see him talking to Maggie, Paul, and Buster multiple times?
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, I could tell who he was talking to on the phone. We didn't have to travel as much together later in the last three or four, five years just because we were working less cases. Sometimes we wouldn't have to go as many places for depositions and things. But, yes, if we were traveling, I could tell he was talking to his family on the phone.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right. Was it hard to get Alex to go on guy trips? Did he prefer to spend time with his family over guy trips?
CHRIS WILSON: He seemed to, yes, sir. I mean, most any trip that I think I've ever been on with Alex generally was family. He's not the kind of guy that would take off and go spend a golfing weekend with us or -- I think they liked to spend their time hunting and fishing and doing things as a family.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you -- going back to this Faris case that was tried in Columbia, do you remember Maggie coming up and staying with him during the trial?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't -- I mean, I think she may have come up, like, that Sunday before we started the trial. I was staying at home in Columbia and he was staying in a hotel, so I think that's why he stayed in the hotel because Maggie was coming. And we were at that point -- I think we were just renting a house because we were between places and didn't have a lot of space. But I couldn't -- I wouldn't want to testify to that under oath, but I think so.
MR. GRIFFIN: Sure. You would go to lawyer conventions with Alex. I mean, you would go to the same conventions.
CHRIS WILSON: Sure.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you mentioned the trial lawyers one at Hilton Head the first weekend of every August.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And before the tragic events of June 7th of 2021, would he always go with Maggie, Paul, and Buster?
CHRIS WILSON: Most all of the lawyers that go to that convention bring their families along. It's a big time that everybody gets to know each other and know each other's family, and Maggie and Paul and Buster would always be there.
MR. GRIFFIN: And during football season, South Carolina, did he and Maggie have season tickets?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Did he go to the games with his family?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you would tailgate with them?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. They would generally have a family tailgate that Ms. Libby would put together, and then when she got sick I don't remember who kind of took it over. But they always had a family tailgate, and if we weren't tailgating with them, we would always make it a point to stop by and at least speak.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he had -- they had season basketball tickets --
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: -- correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: He and Maggie would go to just about every home basketball game --
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: -- for the University of South Carolina men's basketball team?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: That's some pretty bad basketball teams over the years, right?
CHRIS WILSON: They were actually pretty good, I think, in those years. I think that was Final Four. Actually I think Alex bought the tickets for the year after the Final Four when they tanked. So, yeah, he might not have seen the best basketball.
MR. GRIFFIN: Then you went to baseball games together?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I don't know how much baseball. We didn't do a lot of baseball ourselves, but I think they did some.
MR. GRIFFIN: And the -- and we'll get to this, but the weekend before June the 7th -- it would be June 6th and June 5th -- you actually went to the Super Regionals with Maggie and Alex and Buster and his girlfriend, Brooklynn, you and your wife, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. It was only on that Saturday that we were with them, which would be June the 5th. They had come up for the weekend Carolina baseball tournament, and my wife and two of our children met up with them on Saturday and went and hung out at some mutual friend's place for awhile before we all went to the ballgame, kind of separated and went to different seating areas at the ballgame.
MR. GRIFFIN: Would you agree that Alex's number one priority was his family?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. It appeared that way to me.
MR. GRIFFIN: And when I say his family, I'm talking about Maggie, Paul, and Buster.
CHRIS WILSON: His whole family, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you mentioned that you became good friends with Maggie's family, Mr. and Ms. Branstetter.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And her sister, Marian, and --
CHRIS WILSON: Not so much with Marian and, and her husband, Bart. I mean, I knew them and I was around them but not so much friendly or close to them as with Maggie's mama and daddy.
MR. GRIFFIN: And what was Alex's relationship with Maggie's dad?
CHRIS WILSON: Seemed to have a very good relationship with them, spent a lot of time together. They would come to Moselle, or Maggie and Alex and their children would go visit them in Summerville, or Papa T would come up sometimes and try to hunt or do things like that.
MR. GRIFFIN: You knew him at Papa T as well?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And what did you know Ms. Branstetter as?
CHRIS WILSON: Ms. Kim. I think they called her grandma but I called her Ms. Kim.
MR. GRIFFIN: And they vacationed at Edisto, Mr. and Ms. Branstetter, with Alex and Maggie and Buster and Paul, right?
CHRIS WILSON: They would be at Edisto some, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And can you tell the jury a little bit about Alex's relationship with Paul and Buster's friends?
CHRIS WILSON: Alex and Maggie both seemed to welcome them. I mean, they were great to my children and seemed to welcome my children into their house and into their lives and did the same for Paul and Buster's other friends.
MR. GRIFFIN: And the -- and at Edisto, was Alex and Maggie's home, was that opened up to a lot of Paul and Buster's friends? Did they have a lot of people staying over, coming over and visiting?
CHRIS WILSON: You know, it would seem to be that way. I mean, I wasn't over there all the time when there were children or kids around, but sometimes, yes, sir. My kids would say, especially my daughter would say I'm going over to hang out with Paul or Buster at their place.
MR. GRIFFIN: Right, and do you remember, sort of moving forward, Memorial Day weekend of 2021?
CHRIS WILSON: I do.
MR. GRIFFIN: Did you and your family go to Edisto that weekend?
CHRIS WILSON: We did.
MR. GRIFFIN: And was Alex down there with Maggie and Paul and Buster and some of Paul's friends?
CHRIS WILSON: They were.
MR. GRIFFIN: And do you remember getting together over at Alex and Maggie's home over that weekend?
CHRIS WILSON: Yeah. We got together Saturday evening, I believe it was. We got together to cook out over at their house Saturday evening with them and a bunch of other people.
MR. GRIFFIN: And were Maggie and Alex getting along as far as you knew?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Was a fun time had by everyone, the best you could tell?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I think it was right around or about Alex's birthday, we were doing -- we not only were cooking out like a big -- like a big shrimp bog, but also having some cake, a kind of a little birthday celebration.
MR. GRIFFIN: I want to play that right quick.
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, I think it's Defendant's Exhibit -- 61 or 59, Doug?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: 61, Counsel.
MR. GRIFFIN: 61 is in evidence, Your Honor, if I can play it very briefly?
(A video was played.)
MR. GRIFFIN: This is what you were referring to?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Apparently we don't have audio yet. Just run it through. We don't have to have audio.
MR. GRIFFIN: Who is that?
CHRIS WILSON: It's Paul.
MR. GRIFFIN: Is that Alex?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that's you?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Was that a typical family gathering, or was this something like really didn't happen very often?
CHRIS WILSON: No, that was -- I mean, the times that I was around them and their family, things were much like that.
MR. GRIFFIN: So, that was the weekend of Memorial Day weekend. And then the very next weekend was the Super Regional baseball games in Columbia, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that's when you met up with Maggie and Alex on Saturday to tailgate with -- y'all had a mutual friend, I think, maybe whose son played or --
CHRIS WILSON: The son played for Carolina, yes, sir. I think it was one of Maggie and Dana's sorority sisters and a guy that Alex knew from college, but I don't know if they were -- I don't know how they knew each other, and their son played first base for Carolina.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and the --
CHRIS WILSON: It was Maggie, Alex, Buster, and his girlfriend, Brooklynn.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you stayed -- I mean, you, maybe you didn't see Alex and Maggie on Sunday, but I think y'all texted, communicated, you know, just about how poorly South Carolina played.
CHRIS WILSON: We talked and my wife talked to Maggie. Saturday after we tailgated before the game, we all split and went our separate ways to go sit in different areas, and I don't think we saw them after that on Saturday. We were supposed to get together on Sunday, or tried to get together on Sunday but didn't do so and ended up going to the game separately.
MR. GRIFFIN: And --
CHRIS WILSON: But we talked or texted, and I think Dana talked or texted with Maggie.
MR. GRIFFIN: Sure, and I believe you testified earlier that during this weekend you had learned -- gotten an update on Alex's dad and he wasn't doing so well?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I know on Sunday I talked to Alex when they were going home, or when they were headed home, and we were talking about just how the Gamecocks had, you know, blown a chance to move forward, and we talked about his dad and that's when he told me things were getting much worse with Mr. Randolph. But I kind of already knew that from the days, you know, leading up to that. I already kind of knew that; we had talked about it before. But I remember that Sunday him telling me things were really getting much worse.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you knew that, and was it common knowledge in the tight knit legal community of the Hampton and Colleton area?
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, I can only speak for myself, but I knew that and people seemed to know that, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And Mr. Randolph was a -- I mean, he was beloved by a lot people, was he not?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Not just his immediate family but the broader legal community?
CHRIS WILSON: Most people I knew that knew Randolph seemed to respect and love him, really everybody I knew.
MR. GRIFFIN: Right, and we know he died on June the 10th, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Thursday, June the 10th, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: There's been -- you mentioned something -- and I just want to go back to the Faris case, and you and Alex and Mr. Ridgeway who were representing the plaintiffs, Ms. Faris, or the estate, that you thought Mack Truck didn't want to produce some discovery and that that leveraged y'all an ability to basically just have a damages hearing with the judge. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. We had some discovery we had asked for; they sought not to produce it. We had some motions to compel that were argued. I think we were successful in those. I mean, I can't say what they were thinking, but it felt like that we had an opportunity to structure a good chance for our client to get a good result because they didn't want us moving forward with some discovery.
MR. GRIFFIN: And so in the Faris case, you succeeded in getting an order to produce the information you sought, yet y'all worked out a different way to resolve the case. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: Just kind of not to get too deep into it but to just give you some context, this is like -- there was only prior reported case of something else like this happening in the world that we could find, like in Australia or something. And this was one of the only times it had happened while a vehicle was actually in motion on the highway. I think it might have been the first time that it actually happened. So, there was very little -- there was -- there was very little chance we felt like that we were going to be able to make a punitive damage case out of it because there had not been a lot of prior instances for Mack to be on notice on. So, for us waive that didn't feel like we were giving up much, and I think they did not want us to discover some things because there might be other cases that were coming from that defect. This was very early on in discovery of that defect, and things started to happen with it.
MR. GRIFFIN: Now moving back on track -- I'm sorry for diverting -- but on Monday, June the 10th, you didn't speak to Alex any during the day, as I understand it.
CHRIS WILSON: Monday would have been June 7th, but I don't remember --
MR. GRIFFIN: I'm sorry, Monday June 7th, yes, sir.
CHRIS WILSON: That's okay. I don't remember speaking to him on that day, earlier in the day.
MR. GRIFFIN: But you had some things you needed to talk to him about.
CHRIS WILSON: Yeah.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you mentioned a case where -- a potential products liability case?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that whoever was holding the equipment wanted to -- either you've got to come inspect it or don't inspect it.
CHRIS WILSON: They wanted us to go ahead and get it inspected so that they could put it back in operation. We needed to gather what we wanted from it so they could repair it and put it back in operation.
MR. GRIFFIN: And so Alex calling you on Monday, June the 7th, was not surprising, right?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: I mean, because you could talk multiple times a day. You just hadn't talked this day.
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And when -- and you would talk to him when he was traveling, you know, to the office and back to Moselle frequently. I mean, it wasn't the first time you'd ever talked to him when he left Moselle or coming back to Moselle.
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, I don't know where somebody is when I'm talking to them on the phone, but, I mean, it -- often times he would say I'm, you know, headed to Moselle or I'm leaving the office. I mean, it felt like a lot of times he would do the same thing I do: you make your phone calls while you're in car because you're busy doing other stuff if you're at the office or whatever else.
MR. GRIFFIN: Right, but it was a little more than that. You knew when he was coming up to Moselle, the phone would normally drop.
CHRIS WILSON: Phone service is bad out there, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you would drop a call, would you not?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you've been out to Moselle a lot, haven't you?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And calls get dropped out there frequently, do they not?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you can frankly be in one part of the house and maybe have coverage and be in another part of the house and not have coverage, right?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't even know about parts of the house. But, I mean, there would be times that I would be on the phone that I would drop service and not be able to get on the internet or do things like that. It's spotty.
MR. GRIFFIN: And just driving around the rural areas, I guess you know some areas where there are just dead spots and you just know there's going to be a dead spot coming up.
CHRIS WILSON: Very much so.
MR. GRIFFIN: And there were such spots on Moselle Road, were there not?
CHRIS WILSON: For me when I was trying to use my phone, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. Now, you went over your phone bill to get times for phone calls and you went through them, but I want to go through some more detailed documents that are in evidence, reviewing your phone calls with Alex on the 7th. And Defendant's Exhibit 60 is in evidence.
MR. GRIFFIN: And, Doug, if you'll go to page 3078.
MR. GRIFFIN: And let me give you your copy of your Verizon bill. I guess it's Verizon. Was that the service provider? 451 that's in evidence, I'm going to hand it to you and just compare along to some of this detailed information.
MR. GRIFFIN: And, Doug, if you'll go down to the bottom entry, 9:12:14. Do you have that pulled up?
MR. GRIFFIN: Can you see this and compare it to your phone bill? But it says Alex Murdaugh calls Chris Wilson at 9:12 and 14 seconds, and it was a 42 second call. Does that sound about right? I don't know that your Verizon bill is that accurate on the time.
CHRIS WILSON: Is this supposed to be June the 7th? Monday, June the 7th?
MR. GRIFFIN: Yes, sir.
CHRIS WILSON: My phone bill that I pulled and provided -- or my phone records that I pulled and provided to SLED say I had an incoming phone call from phone number ending 1227, which is Alex's cell phone number, at 9:11 p.m. that lasted 2 minutes.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. So, some of these extraction data that's in evidence says the call was 42 seconds long. Do you think you talked to him for 2 minutes or -- you may have been billed for 2 minutes, but when you got the call, you said I'm fixing the pump. Can I call you back?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes.
MR. GRIFFIN: Was that a two minute call or was that a 45 second call?
CHRIS WILSON: Hey, Bo, how you doing? I'm doing all right. I got my hands in the middle of this. Can I call you back? Yeah, sure, no problem. I mean, probably shorter than 2 minutes. I don't know if that's the phone ringing and the talking. I don't know how that works.
MR. GRIFFIN: Right. Okay, and then -- but that was the call, and there was nothing about Alex's demeanor that alarmed you during that conversation, right?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: He wasn't breathing heavy, was he?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: He didn't sound panicky in any way, did he?
CHRIS WILSON: Not panicky, no, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Just a regular conversation with Alex?
CHRIS WILSON: All conversations with Alex are a little bit scattered, but no, he didn't sound out of the ordinary.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right, and then you would call him back.
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. GRIFFIN: Some time around 9:20. What does your Verizon bill say?
CHRIS WILSON: 9:20 p.m., a phone call from me that lasted -- to him that lasted 3 minutes.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right, and if you'll go to page 3082 of Exhibit 60.
MR. GRIFFIN: And if you'll, Doug, pull up the call at 9:20 with Mr. Wilson.
MR. GRIFFIN: Do you see it? Now, I mean, it really doesn't matter whether the Verizon bills says two to 3 minutes. This says 131 seconds, but this is you calling Alex back, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And in that call he is -- has got the same demeanor?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Not breathing heavy?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Not being frantic in any way?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir, not that I heard.
MR. GRIFFIN: Just the normal Alex.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he tells you he just gets to his mom's and that's how you end the call, right?
CHRIS WILSON: It says he's either getting to his mom's or about to get to his mom's. I think he said I'm about to get to my mom's. Let me call you when I'm leaving here.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right.
CHRIS WILSON: Mr. Griffin, I thought he was leaving the office for whatever reason. I don't have any reason to know that. He didn't say that, but I just assumed he had kind of worked late at the office and was headed to check on his mom before he went home.
MR. GRIFFIN: Sure. Okay.
CHRIS WILSON: But he said I'm about to get to my mom's. He didn't say, you know, where he had been earlier or anything like that, just I'm about to get to my mom's. Can I call you later.
MR. GRIFFIN: Would it strike you as odd that he would be going to visit his mom at 9:20 in the evening?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir. I know he visited his mom often. I thought it was mostly during the day, like he would swing over there at lunch and check on his mom and dad, but it didn't strike me as out of the ordinary for him to go in the evening. I knew sometimes he would go later.
MR. GRIFFIN: And were you aware that his dad had been put back in the hospital on that day?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, or I knew that -- I don't know that I knew for sure he was. I know on that Sunday Alex told me he was either -- his daddy was being taken to the hospital or was taken to the hospital that day.
MR. GRIFFIN: And from your knowledge, how frequently would Alex go by and visit his mom and dad?
CHRIS WILSON: Almost every day.
MR. GRIFFIN: Almost every day.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: When he was in town.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And did Alex work odd hours?
CHRIS WILSON: He would usually be somebody that was working later in the evening than a lot of other people would be, yes, sir. I don't think he got started as early as everybody else does.
MR. GRIFFIN: So I guess from what you're testifying, his demeanor would have been, in his communications with you on this phone call at 9:20, the same as it would have been any day he leaves the office, nothing out of the ordinary?
CHRIS WILSON: Nothing struck me as out of the ordinary, no, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you think in this call you brought up that, you know, you needed to talk to him about the equipment?
CHRIS WILSON: I know I did that because we were -- they were starting to get frustrated with us and said this thing needs to get inspected so we can put it back in service, so we were needing to get that scheduled.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he cut the call short before you finished your conversation about the equipment, saying he has pulled up to his mom's or about to get to his mom's.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Yes?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. Thank you, and then the next entry, I'm not sure you -- it wouldn't show up on your Verizon bill.
MR. GRIFFIN: But if you'll go to page 3086, Doug, at -- text at 9:52:15, which I believe that is in --
CHRIS WILSON: Mr. Griffin, I don't think we talked about the equipment deal when told me he was pulling up to his mom's house. I mean, I asked about how his mom was doing and I asked about his dad was doing. And I said hey, I need to talk to you. I might have said hey, I need to talk to you about this equipment case and I've got something else I need to talk to you about work. We didn't get into any details about it because he said I'm about to pull up to Mom's, or I'm pulling up to Mom's. Let me call you back when I finish there.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. Well, one thing we know you didn't talk about is the Faris fee, right?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Because there was no issue as far as you knew about the Faris fee.
CHRIS WILSON: I knew of no issue with that, no, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. So, according to this exhibit that's in evidence, there's a text at 5:52:15 that says: Call me if you're up. And I think you put that text into evidence. I may have it here, and it's State's Exhibit 452.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Is that the text?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And what time did -- well, I guess you printed that off your phone. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: This Exhibit 451 only shows my phone calls. It doesn't show texts.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, the picture of the text message has a time on it, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yeah, June 7th, 9:52 p.m.
MR. GRIFFIN: And the extraction record says 9:52 and 15 seconds, but you received that text?
CHRIS WILSON: I did.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and then if you will go right below that, there's a phone call that you made -- you made to Alex at 9:52:59 on your Verizon bill. Do you see a 9:52 phone call to Alex?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Now, earlier you testified that that was a missed call and you didn't talk to him, and the extraction record says it was 42 seconds. Do you think you called him, got him and the call dropped, or do you think it was a missed call?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember talking to him on that call. I either got his voice message or it didn't answer at all, and that's why I called back one minute later.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay.
CHRIS WILSON: He may have picked up but I don't -- I didn't speak to him and I didn't leave a message.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, then the next call on the log, Doug, is 9:53:55.
MR. GRIFFIN: And what time does your Verizon bill say that you made that next call?
CHRIS WILSON: 9:53 p.m.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and so right after you tried, according to this exhibit, it was, like, 42 seconds after you tried the first call --
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: -- you tried him back?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And when you got him, is that when you talked about the equipment inspection?
CHRIS WILSON: That's when I would have said how is your mama doing, you know, how is your dad? We need to talk about this piece of equipment; we've got to deal with this inspection that's upcoming. And I've got some motions that -- I think it is some motions that I need some help with, something that I need a little guidance on and bounce off of you. He said he was about to get back to Moselle or about to get back home and, you know, may lose service, or was about to get back home and he would -- could we talk tomorrow.
MR. GRIFFIN: I mean, did he, in fact, tell you I'm going to drop service --
CHRIS WILSON: I don't think he said I'm about to drop service. I think he said I'm about to get back to Moselle, you know, I may lose service. Can we talk tomorrow.
MR. GRIFFIN: And, again, demeanor was perfectly normal in this last conversation you had with him at 9:53, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Nothing stood out as different to me.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he wasn't breathing heavy, he wasn't being frantic, nothing out of the ordinary?
CHRIS WILSON: Nothing that I heard was out of the ordinary, no, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay, and then you went to bed, and you got notified by your wife, and the phone was blowing up, and you immediately got in the car and went to Moselle. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: Immediately, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you got there roughly about 1:00 in the morning. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: About one in the morning, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you were directed to the main house?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And there you think Alex was already in the main house?
CHRIS WILSON: I know he was already there because I walked in and the first thing I did was walked over -- he was crying and I was crying and just walked over and hugged his neck. I didn't say a word.
MR. GRIFFIN: Do you remember what he was wearing?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't.
MR. GRIFFIN: Who was in the --
CHRIS WILSON: I think I remember a white shirt but I don't remember for sure.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, when you were there, did SLED agents come and take his clothes?
CHRIS WILSON: I was not there that I remember seeing SLED agents take his clothes or anything like that. If they did, I was somewhere else in the house.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay.
CHRIS WILSON: I did not see any of that take place. I was told that they did, but I did not see that.
MR. GRIFFIN: You were told that when you were in the house?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Okay. Did it appear that they had already taken his clothes when you saw Alex?
CHRIS WILSON: I have no idea.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, did you see him change clothes during the time you were with him?
CHRIS WILSON: Not while I was there, no, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: So while you were there, he had the same clothes on from when you got there to when you left?
CHRIS WILSON: As far as I remember, yes, sir. I mean, I would -- I mean, as far as I remember, yes. I was focused on my friend, his son. I wasn't paying attention to whether he changed clothes or anything like that. But I don't remember him changing clothes or anybody taking his clothes, but I wasn't fully focused on that.
MR. GRIFFIN: And what was Alex's demeanor that night?
CHRIS WILSON: He was destroyed.
MR. GRIFFIN: He was destroyed?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. He was crying, quiet, just whimpering, trying to be gracious to the people that had come at times. But, I mean, none of us knew what to say. None of us knew what to do, you know. There was a bunch of -- just a lot of quiet.
MR. GRIFFIN: I want to ask you about a comment: he was trying to be gracious. When Alex meets people coming up, is he polite? Respectful? Is that his normal habit?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, he's good with people. I mean, he doesn't -- he's the kind of person that doesn't ever seem to have met a stranger, always seems to talk to people.
MR. GRIFFIN: One of the things that was -- well, let's set the table. You were there and a number of his law partners were there. Is that right?
CHRIS WILSON: As I recall, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Do you remember Mark Ball being there?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember Mark -- I remember Mark being there at points in times, but I'm not sure about that night when I walked in.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, let me -- let's -- Ronnie Crosby?
CHRIS WILSON: I remember Ronnie being there, Austin Crosby, Lee Cope.
MR. GRIFFIN: Austin, Lee, Randy?
CHRIS WILSON: Randy, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: I guess his brother John Marvin?
CHRIS WILSON: John Marvin was already there. I think -- I don't remember if Buster had already gotten there or not. I think he got there right after I got there.
MR. GRIFFIN: And then y'all were there for quite -- for a number of hours and everyone said, you know, we just need to go and try to get some rest, and so you went to your office and laid down on the couch and tried to sleep, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you were back at 9:00 in the morning?
CHRIS WILSON: Yeah, somewhere thereabouts, 9:00 or shortly after.
MR. GRIFFIN: And were the same lawyers there?
CHRIS WILSON: Pretty much. I mean, there was a lot comings and goings. At varying points and times Alex's partners would -- some be there and some not. But, yes, sir, pretty much the same number of people and the same people the next morning.
MR. GRIFFIN: Right, and at some point in time there was a discussion and a recommendation that you agreed with that Alex not speak to any law enforcement without somebody with him, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Well, we were standing around in the driveway talking, and I think it was Lee Cope, Mark Ball. I don't remember if Ronnie Crosby was in that conversation. A couple of other people, and there was some discussions about Alex's interaction with SLED. And the discussion that was had was, look, he probably doesn't need to interact with SLED without -- by himself because we don't know what state of mind he's in and don't know what the circumstances are, but he also doesn't need seven or eight lawyers trying to advise him and deal with him. I made it very clear that I wanted to be his friend and not his lawyer, that I didn't feel comfortable with that, and that one person needed to be, for a lack of better term, a point person.
MR. GRIFFIN: And the concern was that he wasn't in his -- in a state of mind to do so, to have conversations with law enforcement?
CHRIS WILSON: Well, I mean, Mr. Griffin, I mean, we're all lawyers, and even if you don't practice criminal law at all, even if all you do is civil law, every lawyer knows that generally criminal lawyers advise their clients not to interact with law enforcement without their involvement or as least their approval.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right.
CHRIS WILSON: And so every one of the lawyers standing there either knew that or should have known that --
MR. GRIFFIN: But --
CHRIS WILSON: -- and so whether it was his state of mind or whether general -- just the general what we're all taught and trained -- but, yeah, we all felt like that Alex wasn't in a position where he needed to or maybe was even able to talk to SLED by himself.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that's --
CHRIS WILSON: I felt that way and everybody else expressed the same thing.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that gets to my point. You didn't believe he was able to talk to SLED because he was so distraught and destroyed over the murder of his wife and son?
CHRIS WILSON: That wasn't -- I mean, I'm not trying to argue with you. That wasn't a decision for me to make. That's why I did not want to be acting as his attorney. I wanted to be his friend; that's what I was there for. That would be a decision for whoever was going to be representing -- for him and his representation, whoever it was going to be at that point in time. Whoever was chosen as the point person, that was a decision for them to make about how he would interact with SLED.
MR. GRIFFIN: I understand, but you agreed with the recommendation that he wasn't in a state of mind to sit down and talk to SLED about himself.
CHRIS WILSON: I agreed that he did not need to interact with SLED by himself, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Based on his state of mind.
CHRIS WILSON: I can't tell -- he was destroyed, he was upset, and I don't know whether he was able to talk with SLED at that point in time by himself or not, but I knew that that's not something that somebody should do.
MR. GRIFFIN: Well, do you remember --
CHRIS WILSON: And I've done criminal work in my past, way back in the past, and that's the advice that I would give every one of my clients.
MR. GRIFFIN: Do you remember testifying before the State Grand Jury stating he, Alex, wasn't in a state of mind to do so and that we all didn't need to be his lawyer?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember specifically saying that.
MR. GRIFFIN: I'll show you page 152, lines 22 through 25 --
CHRIS WILSON: Sure.
MR. GRIFFIN: -- and see if it refreshes your recollection.
CHRIS WILSON: Sure. He was not in a good state of mind, I will tell you that.
MR. GRIFFIN: 152 down at the bottom?
CHRIS WILSON: You want me to read it out loud or just read it to myself?
MR. GRIFFIN: No, sir. I mean, does it refresh your recollection that that was your testimony?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir. I said he wasn't in the state of mind to do so and that we all didn't need to be his lawyer. I didn't want to be his lawyer. I was his friend. I didn't want to be in the lawyer scenario.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right, but he wasn't in a good state of mind, that's for sure, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir, nobody was.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right. Now, you got there at about 1:00 in the morning, and there were a lot of people around Alex at that point in time?
CHRIS WILSON: There were already people inside the house around him, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And then when you left, Alex was with Randy, John Marvin, Buster by that time?
CHRIS WILSON: I think the decision was made they would go to -- that at least Buster and Alex would go to Almeda and spend the night, and I don't remember whether John Marvin or Randy went with them, but they were leaving as a family.
MR. GRIFFIN: And as far as you know, they left as a family and they came back as a family the next day?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And when you got there the next day, more people showed up around Alex, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And I think the Branstetters showed up eventually?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember -- yeah. I think Papa T and Ms. Kim were there the next day.
MR. GRIFFIN: Now, the immediate days following Maggie's and Paul's murder, Alex spent a lot of time down at Summerville. Do you recall that?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And that's where Papa T and Ms. --
CHRIS WILSON: That's where Maggie's parents lived.
MR. GRIFFIN: And spent a lot of time with them?
CHRIS WILSON: Seemed to, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And then he would stay with John Marvin down at Okatie you mentioned --
CHRIS WILSON: That's where I -- I'm sorry. That's where I thought he was staying a lot, yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he would stay with his brother Randy?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And then they would go to Edisto, he and Buster, sometimes?
CHRIS WILSON: There were several times that he and Buster would go to Edisto, and I would try to go down and just see them there. I think they were just -- I mean, I know Buster, and I think they were just trying to kind of go somewhere where there weren't quite as many people around.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you begged him, I think you said, or encouraged him to come to the Trial Lawyers convention at Hilton Head so that maybe, you know, he and Buster could have some normal time.
CHRIS WILSON: At least to play golf with us one day. I told him he at least should do that.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you were concerned -- he had lost a lot of weight, had he not?
CHRIS WILSON: He didn't seem to be sleeping or eating very well.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he was -- and as his friend, you tried to give him a shoulder to lean on and an ear to talk to, right?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And he asked you rhetorically what are we going to do without Maggie and Paul. Do you remember that?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't remember those exact words, but, I mean, he said he didn't know what he was going to do without them, yes, sir. I don't know if he said what are we going to do.
MR. GRIFFIN: He told you that he just couldn't go back to Moselle and that he was going to have to sell it because he just can't go back out there. Do you remember that?
CHRIS WILSON: He talked to me that he and Buster were going to talk about selling Moselle. He didn't -- I mean, that was Paul's thing. Paul loved that property and being on that property, and I don't know that Buster loved it as much. He did, but I don't know that he loved it as much as Paul, and I don't know that they, you know, that -- Alex just talked to me about that he didn't know that he was going to want to keep it and that, that he didn't -- I don't think he ever went back out there and spent another night. Don't know that for sure, but I had never talked to him while he was there.
MR. GRIFFIN: And you advised him just to take it one day at a time.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: One second, Your Honor.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. GRIFFIN: Mr. Wilson, do you see Buster in the courtroom?
MR. GRIFFIN: Could you stand up, Buster?
CHRIS WILSON: I do.
MR. GRIFFIN: Is that Buster?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: And is Brooklynn seated next to him?
MR. GRIFFIN: Can you stand up, Brooklynn?
MR. GRIFFIN: Is that Brooklynn?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: All right.
MR. GRIFFIN: Thank you, Your Honor. That's all of the questions I have.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Redirect?
MR. WATERS: Thank you, Your Honor, briefly.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. WATERS:
MR. WATERS: You were asked by Mr. Griffin on June the 7th whether or not you brought up anything about the Faris fees, but at that point in time you hadn't had to cover $192,000 for the defendant, had you?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir, I had not.
MR. WATERS: And as far as --
CHRIS WILSON: It was July the 15th, 16th, 17th, somewhere around in that range, the middle of July that I had to cover that $192,000.
MR. WATERS: But he called you with some story about how he had the money in the wrong structures and needed to send it back to you but he was 192 short.
MR. GRIFFIN: Objection. Leading.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Don't lead the witness.
MR. WATERS: Did the defendant tell you that the issue of notifying his firm had been handled --
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: -- about the fees?
CHRIS WILSON: Before I wrote the checks in March and afterwards.
MR. WATERS: Before June the 7th. You were asked about that call with Lee Cope.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And you -- did you talk about some fees and expenses that were still pending with Lee Cope?
CHRIS WILSON: Not with Lee Cope, no, sir.
MR. WATERS: What did you talk about with Lee Cope?
CHRIS WILSON: Lee asked me if all the money in the case, the Mack Trucks case, had been disbursed, and I told him that it hadn't. We were holding back some lien money, some medical bill money. And I was in Hampton, I believe, trying a case down there the whole week and he approached while -- I was working in and out of their office sometimes, and I think that's when he approached me and spoke with me about it, and I told him I would have to check. I wasn't in the office.
MR. WATERS: Did you tell Lee Cope at that time that you had already disbursed the fees and written them directly to Richard Alexander Murdaugh?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir. He didn't ask him about the fees.
MR. WATERS: You were asked about the phone call that took place -- or the phone calls, series of phone calls that you had with the defendant on the night of the murders, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And he called you first, correct?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And then he sent a text saying: You up?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: But in those phone calls, you were the one who raised the issue about the equipment issue, correct?
MR. GRIFFIN: Objection. Leading.
MR. WATERS: Were you the one who raised the issue about the equipment?
CHRIS WILSON: I did. I kept up with our deadlines and things that needed to be dealt with. And I want to say that they -- the lawyer had reached out to me some time around that time. I don't know whether they couldn't get Alex or just chose me to be the person to reach out to, but I was being contacted.
MR. WATERS: You were asked him about him going to visit his mother in Almeda typically during the day, and were you aware that he didn't go visit his father that day despite the news that he had been put in the hospital?
CHRIS WILSON: I don't know. I don't think we talked about that night on those phone calls whether he had gone to see his father or not. I asked how his father was, but I don't think he told me whether he had gone to see his father or not.
MR. WATERS: You were asked about your conversations that night with him, and I think you said he was acting like the normal Alex.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: And you were asked about the fact of your observations of him as a husband?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: As a father.
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: You said you saw no erratic behavior over the years that you've known him?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: Saw no evidence of opioid use over the years that you've known him?
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: You said that he came from a prominent law firm?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: A prominent family?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: That you respected him as a lawyer?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: That his clients trusted him?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. GRIFFIN: Your Honor, he's leading and leading and I object.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Sustained.
MR. WATERS: Was the defendant effective in closing argument?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, very.
MR. WATERS: Could the defendant show emotion in closing argument?
CHRIS WILSON: I mean, yes, sir, he did.
MR. WATERS: Was the defendant good with people?
CHRIS WILSON: Very good with people. That was one of Alex's strengths is with clients and people he met, connecting to people that he, you know, didn't know quite as personally. He could make connections with people. He seemed to know what -- he seemed to know what made people tick. He knew what was important to people; he could spot issues and address issues in a case. When you got him to focus, he could handle those things.
MR. WATERS: Did your kids grow up together?
CHRIS WILSON: They did.
MR. WATERS: Did you try cases with him?
CHRIS WILSON: We did.
MR. WATERS: You've done business with him over the years. Have you done business with him over the years?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir, lots.
MR. WATERS: Have you been roommates with him?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: When you covered $192,000 for him, did you trust him and believe him in what he was telling you?
CHRIS WILSON: I believe that he would pay me back, and that what he told me happened had happened.
MR. WATERS: On September 4th --
CHRIS WILSON: And I knew I had to cover that money with my trust account, so yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: On September 4, 2021, did he confess to you the truth of his life that those who were close to him no one knew?
CHRIS WILSON: He confessed to me things about him that I didn't know.
MR. WATERS: And you had no idea about any of that.
CHRIS WILSON: No, sir.
MR. WATERS: And he said it had been going on for years, the reality of his life.
CHRIS WILSON: He told me that he had been addicted to opioids, and I think he said either for twenty or over twenty years.
MR. WATERS: And also?
CHRIS WILSON: That he had been stealing money from his client in the firm.
MR. WATERS: And that was a lighting bolt because you had no idea despite being his best friend.
MR. GRIFFIN: Objection. Leading, argumentative.
MR. WATERS: Were you one of his best friends?
CHRIS WILSON: Yes, sir.
MR. WATERS: Did you have any idea that any of that had been going on for a decade?
CHRIS WILSON: I had been told by Lee Cope the day before in that phone call that Alex had been stealing from his firm and from clients, and that he had a drug problem and was going into rehab, and that was the first I would have ever known that.
MR. WATERS: September 4, 2021.
CHRIS WILSON: That was Friday, September the 3rd, when I talked to Lee Cope, and again when I talked to Alex again on Saturday, September the 4th.
MR. WATERS: Hit you out of the blue?
CHRIS WILSON: Like a ton of bricks. I mean, it floored me when Lee called me and -- I never expected that.
MR. WATERS: Thank you. Nothing further.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Further questions?
MR. GRIFFIN: No, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: You may step down.
(The witness exited the stand.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: We'll recess now for, one hour and 15 minutes. Please go to the jury room. Please do not discuss the case.
(The jury left the courtroom.)
(A lunch break was taken.)